quicksilver
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of quicksilver
before 1000; Middle English qwyksilver, Old English cwicseolfor (translation Latin argentum vīvum ) literally, living silver
Explanation
Use the noun quicksilver when you need a more poetic way to talk about the element known as mercury. If you look closely at an old-fashioned thermometer, you can see the quicksilver inside it. It's more common to refer to this metal — the only one that is liquid at room temperature — as mercury, but it's also correct to call it quicksilver, which describes the properties of the element very well. Quicksilver is liquid, silver colored, and is fascinating to look at. The word comes from the sense of quick that means "alive;" the Latin root is argentum vivum, which is literally "living silver."
Vocabulary lists containing quicksilver
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
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"Coming of Age in the Dawnland," Vocabulary from the historical excerpt
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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.
All would be lost, however, without Mays’ quicksilver brilliance — the way he can shift from savage irony to vindictive rage to godless despair in the space of a line.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
But after that, Carpenter’s quicksilver timing and ease, plus a diverse set of sketches, put the episode over the top.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025
Because Bordeaux's backline, marshalled by the quicksilver Mathieu Jalibert and laced with the pace of Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, is the most dangerous in the competition off turnover ball and in broken field.
From BBC • May 24, 2025
Together, the combination of big target man Withe and quicksilver Shaw alongside him turned Villa first into league champions in May 1981, then European champions in 1982.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2024
The quickening, Madeline had called it, as she laid her hands on Mia’s skin—such an old-fashioned euphemism, one that made her think of quicksilver, a lithe little fish whipping about within her.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
