To save this word, you'll need to log in.
shut up; shutting up; shuts up
Definition of shut up
: to cause (a person) to stop talking
: to cease writing or speaking
Keep scrolling for more
Examples of shut up in a Sentence
you have no right to tell the rest of us to shut up
nothing I said would shut them up
Recent Examples on the Web They’ve been told by the veterans, 'Hey, shut up and play a role.
—
Bobby Nightengale, The Enquirer, "Unwritten rules violation? Reds' Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray applaud Fernando Tatis Jr.," 19 Aug. 2020 Any call for Ginsburg to step down risked being cast as sexist, the brutish dismissal of a powerful older woman who refuses to shut up.
—
Amanda Hess, New York Times, "The Fandom Around R.B.G. Is Out of Step With Reality," 12 Aug. 2020 Or maybe these boisterous boys just don’t know when to shut up—and the ladies know not to expect any less.
—
Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, "Fourteen Fun Facts About Love and Sex in the Animal Kingdom," 14 Feb. 2020 All Holland has to do to become an instant multimillionaire is shut up and tackle for 10 college games, then sink into the warm embrace of NFL superstardom.
—
Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, "West Coast college kids stand up to Big Football," 2 Aug. 2020 But, as the NBA showed once again on Re-Opening Night, there are no plans to shut up and dribble.
—
Chris Fedor, cleveland, "J.B. Bickerstaff, Koby Altman ‘proud’ of NBA players for taking knee in protest of racial injustice during national anthem," 31 July 2020 Going to New England gives Newton a chance to shut up his critics and thrive under a new system.
—
Terry Pluto, cleveland, "Cam Newton to New England? Can Bill Belichick make it work? Don’t bet against it," 29 June 2020 Another officer walked up close to the mom and started yelling at her to shut up.
—
Eric Umansky, ProPublica, "My Family Saw a Police Car Hit a Kid on Halloween. Then I Learned How NYPD Impunity Works.," 23 June 2020 In March, as parts of America and Europe shut up shop, some 2.5bn customers are reckoned to have visited Amazon’s website, a 65% increase on last year.
—
The Economist, "Sea of troubles Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution," 22 June 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shut up.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on shut up
What made you want to look up shut up? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Homophone Quiz
- In order to judge how people felt, the senator's office hired a firm to take a
______.
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Share shut up
Time Traveler for shut up
The first known use of shut up was in 1814
See more words from the same year