Quieten

To make or become calmer or less noisy.

Reach for it when describing a gentle reduction in sound, agitation, or activity

A soft melody helped quieten the restless audience.

• everyday

  calm

  agitation rather than sound is the problem

  not when Calm does not specifically mean lower volume.

• everyday

  hush

  voices or a room become silent

  not when Hush can sound like a command and may not calm emotion.

• warm

  soothe

  comfort reduces distress

  not when Soothing can occur while noise continues.

• professional

  settle

  activity gradually becomes orderly

  not when Settle can also mean decide or sink.

• formal

  mute

  sound is deliberately reduced or removed

  not when Mute can imply mechanical silencing rather than gentle easing.

• literary

  still

  movement and sound both come to rest

  not when Still suggests a more complete stop than quieten.

• rouse
• agitate
• amplify

• quieten the room

  The chair raised one hand to quieten the room.

• quieten down

  The workshop began to quieten down after the final delivery.

• quieten anxiety

  A clear explanation can quieten anxiety before the scan.

Quieten is not a headword in the dictionaries below. The sense was checked against their entries for quiet, and the definition and example here are written for Quieten itself.

• wiktionary, the entry for quiet, English verb sense: make quiet or calm ↗opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.