quiet quitting

1 of 2

noun

: the practice of doing the minimum amount of work required for one's job

Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. As such, it is something of a misnomer, since the worker doesn't actually leave their position and continues to collect a salary.

—Greg Daugherty

I recently learned about this term called quiet quitting, where you're not outright quitting your job, but you're quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You're still performing your duties, but you're no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life.

—Zaid Khan (@zaidleppelin), on TikTok

For many employees, quiet quitting is a form of setting boundaries in a professional context.

—Megan Prevost

In schools—especially those with unionized teachers—quiet quitting may sound a lot like the "work to rule" concept when employees stick to official working rules and hours exactly to the letter.

—Elizabeth Heubeck

quiet quitting

2 of 2

present participle of quiet quit

Examples of quiet quitting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Others are taking the route of ‘quiet quitting’ -- doing the bare minimum of work, while looking for another remote work job. —Shelley E. Kohan, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025

From chronic struggles with burnout to a pragmatic, even skeptical take on how to lead their careers, the generation that entered the workforce during the age of quiet quitting has come to exemplify the quarter-life crisis. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2025

While the phenomenon may worry some managers, the authors suggest ways to curb quiet quitting. —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025

Similarly, recent workplace trends of quiet quitting, essentially pushing back on your workload to a minimum while you’re mentally checked out, fell under this umbrella too. —Vicki Salemi, Boston Herald, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

2022, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for quiet quitting

• babysitting
• counterfeiting
• retrofitting
• unremitting
• acquitting
• admitting
• befitting
• committing
• emitting
• omitting
• outfitting
• outwitting