hushed

American  

[huhsht] / hʌʃt /

adjective

1. (of speech) deliberately quiet, especially when silence is prudent, respectful, or requested.

   Only an occasional whisper could be heard among our hushed voices.

2. (of a place or situation) having a calm silence, often because those in attendance are being respectful or are waiting to hear something: sitting nervously in the hushed courtroom.

   the hushed galleries of a museum;

   sitting nervously in the hushed courtroom.

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Other Word Forms

• hushedly adverb

Etymology

Origin of hushed

First recorded in 1600–10; hush ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

It was only after assurances that their identities would be kept anonymous that some men agreed to be interviewed, speaking in hushed tones.

From BBC

When people think about the world’s foremost grandmasters, they might imagine two geniuses in a hushed room leaning over a chess board.

From The Wall Street Journal

Lately, I’ve spent just as much time contemplating the movie’s silence — those hushed stretches in which this caravan of bohemians speeds across the Moroccan desert looking like the only free people left on Earth.

From Los Angeles Times

Mariano spends his days in grand, palatial spaces that are curiously still and inert, like hushed museum galleries.

From The Wall Street Journal

In a spotless, hushed factory near Hamburg in northern Germany, industrial robots stand ready to assemble the components of electrolysers.

From BBC

Related Words

• muted