shut up

verb

Definition of shut upnext
1
as in to dry up
to stop talking you have no right to tell the rest of us to shut up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to shush
to stop the noise or speech of nothing I said would shut them up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 shut up Commentators hungry for superstar validation of their culture war were calling her silence a moral failure, and some of them were the same people who, in previous news cycles, had insisted that athletes needed to shut up. — Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Ferragosto on August 15 is when all Italians down tools, shut up shop, and head for the coast. — Catherine Fairweather, Air Mail, 15 Aug. 2026 Layoffs in the gaming industry have seen almost 60,000 roles cut worldwide since 2022; multiple studios and publishers have shut up shop for good. — David Prosser, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026 Any advice on how to tune out ignorant neighbors who refuse to shut up? — R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 15 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for shut up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shut up
  1. dry up
  2. shush
  3. hush
  4. silence
  5. clam up
  6. quiet
  7. belt up
  8. mute
Verb
  • Fishing has long dried up in Snook’s Arm, so Calvin and his son Wade (Charlie Heaton) make a living by collecting ice for a local vodka brewery and running an Airbnb out of their home.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Afghanistan has also suffered from decades of conflict and global aid has all but dried up since the return of Taliban rule in 2021.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of dry up
Verb
  • Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim went to 3-0 for the week with a crowd-shushing rally from 2 down to a 2-and-1 victory over Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
  • His interactions with Daemon (Matt Smith) last season, going so far as to shush him at one point, were a breath of fresh air.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of shush
Verb
  • The lounge is a real scene, especially during afternoon tea, when a perfectly coiffed crowd has hushed discussions about worldly matters.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The park has already taken some steps to hush their new attraction.
    — Lynette Rice, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of hush
Verb
  • What’s worse, the law put the onus on them to ask to be silenced.
    — Gretchen Carlson, New York Daily News, 2 Oct. 2026
  • History was repeating, ancient bonds once damaged in war, silenced, and soothed in the quiet moments after.
    — Nicky Robertson, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of silence
Verb
  • Anyone asked by local or national media over the past few months if they’d been invited to the nuptials clammed up quickly.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2026
  • On Israel, a lot of candidates have clammed up.
    — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 22 June 2026
Definition of clam up
Verb
  • There was a lot of Honolulu Blue in the lower bowl — Lions fans don’t get to see their team in Charlotte very often — but they had been quieted by the end.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Their raucous conversation quieted as the odd trio approached.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of quiet
Verb
  • The Paramount+ streaming event finds two UFC belts up for grabs at the top of the card.
    — Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Going back home Sunday looks nice, except for the Lake Effect Snow belt up in New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
    — Amanda Castro, Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2024
Definition of belt up
Verb
  • There’s no flashy design and no over-the-top exterior, instead muted hues and lots of marble.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • In lectures and seminars, his cleft palate caused his voice to be muted and his pronunciation at times unclear.
    — Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of mute

Browse Nearby Words

shutting up
shut up
shy
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Cite this Entry

“Shut up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shut%20up. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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