shush
Americaninterjection
verb (used with object)
-
shushes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shushed,
past participle, past
-
shushing
present participle
interjection
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shushsimple
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shushessimple
-
have shushedperfect
-
has shushedperfect
-
am shushingprogressive
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are shushingprogressive
-
is shushingprogressive
-
have been shushingperfect progressive
-
has been shushingperfect progressive
Past
-
shushedsimple
-
had shushedperfect
-
was shushingprogressive
-
were shushingprogressive
-
had been shushingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shush
First recorded in 1920–25; imitative
Explanation
To shush is to urge someone else to be quiet. If you burst out laughing in the library, the librarian will almost certainly come over and shush you. A babysitter will shush a rowdy kid whose younger sibling is taking a nap, a teacher will shush a chattering class when they're supposed to be focused on their work, and a train conductor might shush you if you're talking on your mobile phone in the quiet car. This imitative word sounds just like the sound you make when you implore another person to quiet down. You can even use it as a command: "Shush! I can't hear the TV!"
Vocabulary lists containing shush
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That’s where finding a quiet space to meditate or write in her journal helped shush McClernon’s self-doubt.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
US President Joe Biden told a climate heckler to "shush up" after they interrupted a speech he was giving in Arizona.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2023
But though we may be cheering, we’re also simultaneously trying to shush the cynical voice buried inside us.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2023
He has to repeatedly shush the crowd during his remarks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2023
“No use trying to shush me, Adam Cruff. You tell them what we saw!”
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
A staffer shushes the Times journalists talking in the hallway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
Go into hysterics if someone shushes them in a theater?
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2023
The man could not hit a fairway, make a putt or do anything worthy of one of his patented crowd shushes.
From Golf Digest ● Sep. 29, 2018
Vanessa, a New York-raised teacher in her early 40s with family back in Haiti, waits through a few protracted rounds of talk before the room shushes again.
From The Guardian ● May 18, 2018
Our mama shushes us, says, It's too late for presents and the like.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Villa analyst Victor Manas urged Tindall to "show some respect" and "lose the finger" after the Newcastle number two repeatedly shushed a visibly irate Unai Emery at St James' Park.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026
Why would she be abruptly shushed whenever she asked after its fate?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
When a few overzealous fans couldn’t contain their excitement, and yelled “C’mon, 'Foe!” just as the American was readying to lob the ball upward in a serve, hundreds of other fans collectively shushed them.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2024
With that, Arizona’s bullpen slammed the door on Philadelphia’s powerful lineup — and shushed Phillies fans who were left weeping on their own.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
He found himself shushed and needled out of the room, lest he wake the baby, or frighten the baby, or bore the baby to death with poetry.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
“I always felt like I was in a library,” Emma says, with some guests shushing others or throwing a side-eye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
“They’re doing more than just stamping books or shushing everybody,” Kearney said.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
The offenders were stopped in their tracks by audience members shushing - some even hissing - or having a quiet word, but in each case it still momentarily broke the spell of the film.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
When Black women attempt to celebrate their achievements and survival when others won’t or to speak their truth about experiences with racism, prejudice, violence and misogynoir, there’s a virtual shushing that tends to happen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
“Don’t shush me. Gum Baby was gonna say web! You always shushing somebody. Gum Baby ought to put her foot upside your big ole noggin.”
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
