: resembling or suggestive of quicksilver
especially
: mercurial sense 3
Examples of quicksilver in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2024
But the Great Depression hit Terlingua hard, and as the demand for quicksilver dried up, so did the town.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2024
Scott earned raves for his melancholy performance and his quicksilver ability to transform himself into a child of different ages purely through his acting choices.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2024
While Ringwald had a different appeal from Monroe, her insouciant energy and quicksilver ability to shift her moods got closer to Capote’s character than did Hepburn’s reinvention in the 1961 film.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024
Her quicksilver performance is the engine that propels the action.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2023
Like verbal quicksilver, slang cannot be co-opted or calculated.
—Caleb Madison, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2023
The film is a quicksilver portrait of the three characters as layers of denial and deception, both among the trio and within each individual, are gradually, chillingly exposed.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2023
Daedalus made statues move with weights or quicksilver.
—Anthony Grafton, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
Joanne McNeil, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020
Noun
The small village of New Almaden was once a world-famous quicksilver (mercury) mining community.
—Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2024
But the Great Depression hit Terlingua hard, and as the demand for quicksilver dried up, so did the town.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2024
Scott earned raves for his melancholy performance and his quicksilver ability to transform himself into a child of different ages purely through his acting choices.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2024
While Ringwald had a different appeal from Monroe, her insouciant energy and quicksilver ability to shift her moods got closer to Capote’s character than did Hepburn’s reinvention in the 1961 film.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024
Her quicksilver performance is the engine that propels the action.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2023
Like verbal quicksilver, slang cannot be co-opted or calculated.
—Caleb Madison, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2023
The film is a quicksilver portrait of the three characters as layers of denial and deception, both among the trio and within each individual, are gradually, chillingly exposed.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2023
Daedalus made statues move with weights or quicksilver.
—Anthony Grafton, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023
Adjective
The comment was made when internet companies were thought to be quicksilver entities rather than institutions building legacies.
—Joanne McNeil, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quicksilver.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near quicksilver
Cite this Entry
“Quicksilver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quicksilver. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
quicksilver
noun
quick·sil·ver
-ˌsil-vər 
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