quiet one
4
5.3
- noun
:
el callado
- Monica is seen as the quiet one among her friends, rarely speaking up in conversations.
- always the quiet one
Examples
-
Candy was the quiet one, staying to himself.
Fiction book (2000) -
I was always the quiet one.
-
-Is she the quiet one?
-
It's always the quiet ones.
-
But, as my father told me, it's the quiet ones you have to watch.
-
You were the quiet one.
Fiction book (1991) -
As a parent, I tended to be the quiet one.
Blog text (18) -
And in groups of people, I often become the outcast or "the quiet one."
Blog text (17) -
He's a quiet one, isn't he?
-
She's a quiet one.
Synonyms
4
2.5
A person who feels nervous around others and avoids social situations
Antonyms
How Talkative
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the least talkative or most reserved person' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'quiet' (not talkative) with 'one' (a person), so a learner who knows both words can infer the phrase. This is a simple adjective + noun substitution pattern common across languages and follows standard English noun-phrase formation, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Quiet one comes from a simple label for the single person who stays silent: quiet means not speaking and one means that single person. So calling someone the quiet one means they are 'the least talkative person' in the group.