shush
Americaninterjection
verb (used with object)
-
shushes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shushed,
past participle, past
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shushing
present participle
interjection
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shushsimple
-
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:
His friends groaned and tried to shush him; he waved them off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026
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
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, was seen at times trying to shush his outspoken member, to little avail.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 9, 2023
Aunt Kate scooted across to sit next to me, whispering shush over and over again.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
A staffer shushes the Times journalists talking in the hallway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
Gadsby tells us she's succeeded doing "trauma in the context of comedy;" she shushes us not to take the "bait" and hoot when she says something provocative.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2020
So I lean over and say, in a very quiet whisper, “That bowing … ” Before the third word is out, the woman in front of me whips her head around, glares, and shushes me.
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2018
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
I refuse to take any notice of him, and the next time he shushes me, I’m going to shush him right back.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Luff said that Barlow was a good sport, and "smiled" when he shushed them again that night.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 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
As a jubilant Bernard trotted back to the visitor’s sideline, he shushed his former fans.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2023
Omakayas rocked and muttered, shushed, hummed, and sang an old lullaby her mother used.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
“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
Soon the two of them would grow quiet, near sleep, hearing the waves push against the island’s outer walls, the ceaseless shushing of the sea.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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.
