Alanna Madden
November 4, 2021
Grammar Tips
The word quiet references something that is still, calm, silent, or with little disturbance. Quite is an adverb that means “to a complete or considerable extent.”
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One of the most common errors we make as writers involves “quiet” and “quite.” We spell these words nearly the same, yet they have completely different meanings, pronunciations, and we use them for entirely different contexts.
The word “quiet” is a noun, adjective, or verb that references the quality or state of silence, calm, little activity, or moderation. For example,
The adverb “quite” means “to a considerable” or “maximum extent,” but we also use it as an exclamation to express agreement (like “indeed”). For example,
The verb “quit” is another “qui-” word that we can easily confuse for “quite” and “quiet” (especially if you’re pulling one of those all-nighters). The best solution to avoiding the wrong word is to make sure you understand the two words entirely and to proofread your writing (spell checkers are notorious for missing these typos).
The word quite is an adverb and exclamation, where the latter expresses an agreement or understanding of something stated (especially within British English). For example, if someone told you the weather was nice today, you might agree by responding with “quite” (similarly to “indeed”).
In contrast, the adverb quite references a quality of something that exists or performs “to a particular extent or degree.” For instance, we often use quite as a submodifier to mean “wholly,” “completely,” “to an extreme,” or “to the greatest extent.”
American English, in particular, uses “quite” as an intensifier to mean “very” or “really.” For example,
The adverb can also describe something as “to a considerable” or “fairly significant extent,” enabling us to use phrases like “quite some” and “quite a” to reference a notable amount or something we consider remarkable.
Additional phrases of quite include “not quite” (meaning “not completely or entirely”) or “not quite the thing,” which references something that is socially unacceptable, unhealthy, or unwell. For example,
According to The Oxford English Dictionary, Middle English quite stems from the archaic or “obsolete” adjective quite (a variant of the verb quit).
The word quiet appears in English as an adjective, adverb, noun, or verb to reference a quality of calm, silence, or moderation.
The mass noun quiet references the quality or state of something with little to no noise, movement, color, chaos, or disturbance. As noted by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, we use the noun in the phrase “on the quiet” to mean “in secret” or “in a secret manner.”
Example sentences:
Calm, calmness, hush, lull, pause, peace, quietness, quietude, repose, serenity, silence, still, stillness, tranquillity.
Bustle, clamor, commotion, noise, racket, sound, tumult, turmoil, unrest, uproar.
The adverb quiet (mainly written as “quietly”) means “in a quiet manner” or “without motion.”
Example sentences:
Immovably, inactively, motionlessly, quietly, still.
Boisterously, garishly, loudly.
The adjective quiet often describes something as still, calm, secluded, or making little sound. However, we can also use the adjective to describe something as discrete, moderate, understated, reserved, or even secret.
Example sentences:
Calm, conservative, covert, equable, hushed, low-key, mild, moderate, muted, peaceful, placid, repressed, restrained, restful, secret, secluded, serene, sober, still, stilly, subdued, temperate, toned-down, tranquil, unpretentious.
Agitated, angry, boisterous, clamorous, deafening, flamboyant, flaring, garish, gaudy, glitzy, loud, noisy, ostentatious, raucous, rip-roaring, roistering, rowdy, swanky, tumultuous, turbulent, unsettled.
To quiet is to make something calm, still, silent, orderly, or to free something from dispute or doubt. Additional verb forms include “quieted” (past participle), “quieting” (present participle), and “quiets” (present tense).
Example sentences:
Calm, cool it, compose, hush, lull, mute, relax, settle, silence, shush, soothe, still, tranquilize, unwind, zone out.
Act up, agitate, carry on, cut up, disquiet, disturb, fool around, horse around, perturb, show off, stir, upset, vex.
According to Lexico, Middle English quiet was once a noun that “denoted peace as opposed to war.” English adopted the noun from Old French via the Latin quies and quiet–, meaning “repose” or “quiet.”
The best way to avoid confusing “quite” for “quiet” (and vice versa) is to focus on the pronunciation of the words. Both words start with a “qui” (pronounced “kwah“) but have different endings:
If you enjoy learning about tricky English words, be sure to check out similar grammar lessons by The Word Counter, such as:
Test how well you understand the difference between quite and quiet with the following multiple-choice questions.
Quiz Answers
