shushing

verb

present participle of shush
as in silencing
to stop the noise or speech of shushed the crying baby

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shushing Trae Young won Madison Square Garden’s undying enmity in the 2021 playoffs for the Atlanta Hawks, punctuating game-breaking shots by shushing the crowd or bowing to the fans and waving goodbye. — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 9 June 2026 Wine country with kids in tow doesn’t have to mean a stressful afternoon of shushing and screen time. — Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026 Levy sat on the floor, watching like a proud father and shushing whisperers. — Jane Bua, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026 Top sleep aid for kids This extremely popular sound machine uses an authentic human voice to calm babies to sleep with a calming, shushing sound. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 26 Jan. 2026 Kempe then put a gloved finger to his lips, shushing the sixth consecutive sellout crowd in Anaheim. — Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026 After once rising from her seat to scold a man recording the broadcast on his phone to shushing in-studio viewers during an interview with Zohran Mamdani, Whoopi Goldberg just wrote another chapter in her comical relationship with The View's studio audience. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Jan. 2026 The snow was shushing off the roof of the garage and down on the driveway. — Alan Gionet, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025 In the clip, the then-6-year-old can be seen walking with his iPad to the next room and shushing everyone. — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shushing
  1. silencing
  2. hushing
  3. quieting
  4. muting
  5. settling
Verb
  • The researchers went further, looking at liver cells in the lab to see if silencing FNIP1 could turn on fat-burning genes.
    — Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Trust the Brontës to be a squadron of Shtumtroopers, silencing people to bits.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of silencing
Verb
  • If you’re used to traditional decluttering strategies that focus on sorting and purging, house hushing might feel strange.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026
  • There are a lot of ways to declutter out there—the pile method and the discernment method are two of them, and now, everyone’s hushing their house.
    — Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 28 Dec. 2025
Definition of hushing
Verb
  • Performed beneath a continuous gentle rain of warm seawater, this experience combines mineral-rich marine exposure and thermal comfort soothing aching muscles along the way and quieting the mind.
    — Rana Good, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Aug. 2026
  • However, the Rams’ acquisition of Garrett puts a team that was firmly a Super Bowl favorite back in the conversation for a 2026 Super Bowl run, quieting the doubters who rose after the 2026 NFL Draft.
    — Gladys Louise Tyler, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
Definition of quieting
Verb
  • During the third act, in a cunning effect, when anyone picks up a phone, the screen’s contents are displayed on a wall as the lights fade, muting the friends onstage.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 9 July 2026
  • But the field has struggled to figure out a means of delivering RNA-muting molecules into organs and tissues beyond the liver, which has limited their reach.
    — Elaine Chen, STAT, 9 June 2026
Definition of muting
Verb
  • In Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state, voters are settling primaries in a host of races, including a key rematch between Democrats in a Missouri House contest.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Some diners noticed that the knives had other uses — picking teeth, for example, and settling arguments.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of settling

Browse Nearby Words

shushes
shushing
shut
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shushing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shushing. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All