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Glite Dictionary
🤐 To stop talking 🔒 To lock in 🚪 Confined inside
to shut up

to shut up

∞ 4.1
Tell someone to be quiet in a rude or angry way
  • phrasal verb
  • /ʃʌt ʌp/
  • Offensive
translation icon : callarse (informal, ofensivo)
  • During the argument, he told her to shut up and listen to him.
  • tell someone to shut up
  • shout 'shut up'
  • say 'shut up'

And the message of that is really shut up, go away.

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Examples

  • Now I felt like telling this Elaine woman to shut up and listen to what my parents had to say.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • If you'll just shut up I'll give you a statement.

    The Front Page (1974)

  • For the love of God, shut up and move on.

  • We all need to shut up except us, obviously.

  • My mom turned around to tell us to shut up and lost control of the car.

    Academic text (2010)

  • "You told my brother to shut up," the big one said.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "Every other lawyer tells their client to shut up, and what's the result?" he asks.

    Academic text (2011)

  • So athletes should not just shut up and skate or ski.

  • "Don't tell me to shut up, big man," David shot back, his voice rising.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "It's a wonder you two didn't fight." "Shut up," Milton said.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to knock it off
vsto shut up
  • Informal
321 8.1

Tell someone to stop doing something annoying

targets speech specifically and is usually more abrupt and rude
to be quiet
vsto shut up
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

is harsher and more abrupt than this plain request for silence
to silence
vsto shut up
169 3.5

To stop someone from speaking or making noise

is cruder and more abrupt than this more formal action
to quiet down
vsto shut up
  • Informal
42 2.0

Make people or things less noisy and less active

is a sharp verbal order rather than a gentle reduction of noise
to pipe down
vsto shut up
  • Informal
35 7.1

To become quiet or tell someone to stop making noise

is harsher and often more abrupt than this milder request
to hush
vsto shut up
33 3.4

Make a person or thing quiet so others stop making noise

is more abrupt and often rude compared with this soothing action
shush
vsto shut up
  • Informal
23 4.5

A short word or sound used to tell someone to be quiet

is much ruder and more forceful than this gentle cue
to clam up
vsto shut up
  • Informal
14 6.6

Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything

is a sharp spoken order causing silence rather than spontaneous silence
to still
vsto shut up
12 4.2

To make quiet or calm

is a rapid, rude verbal order rather than a gentle calming act
to close up
vsto shut up
10 4.8

To stop talking and say nothing

is a forceful instruction to stop talking rather than sudden withdrawal
to put a sock in it
vsto shut up
  • UK
9 9.1

Tell someone to be quiet

is a more direct and harsher command than that playful phrase
to shut one's mouth
vsto shut up
  • Informal
4 4.4

To stop talking to keep a secret or when told to be quiet

is a harsher, more abrupt way to give that same order
to button up
vsto shut up
  • Informal
3 7.1

To stop talking suddenly and not answer questions

is an external order to be quiet rather than chosen silence
to say no more
vsto shut up
  • Informal
3 4.9

To stop talking because more words are not needed or would not be right

is more blunt and rude than this polite request to end talk
to keep mum
vsto shut up
  • Informal
3 7.5

Stay quiet about something private

is a forceful instruction to stop talking rather than chosen silence
to quieten
vsto shut up
3 4.6

Make someone or something less noisy and calmer

is a rude immediate order rather than a measured calming action
to hush up
vsto shut up
  • Informal
2 5.0

Make someone stop talking and be quiet

is usually a cruder, more abrupt command than this quieter action
to shut one's assmouth
vsto shut up
  • Offensive
9.9

Tells someone to be quiet in a rude way

is a blunt command that stops speech abruptly and rudely
to shut one's gob
vsto shut up
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone rudely to be quiet

is similarly direct but can be more rude or abrupt
to belt up
vsto shut up
  • Offensive
9.2

To tell someone to stop talking and be quiet

is a more universally rude command rather than mainly British slang
to shh
vsto shut up
  • Informal
8.3

Tell someone to be quiet by making a soft sound with your mouth

is a direct verbal order rather than a soft noise to calm
to dummy up
vsto shut up
  • Archaic
9.6

Refuse to speak or suddenly stop talking when asked

is a direct command to stop speaking, not voluntary silence
to wheesht
vsto shut up
  • UK
9.9

To tell someone to be quiet in a soft voice

is more universally rude and abrupt than this regional expression

Antonyms

to speak
∞ 1.0

To talk with someone to share thoughts or feelings

talk
947 1.0

A discussion where people share ideas or feelings

How Forceful

to silence
169 3.5
to shut up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1
to shush
  • Informal
31 5.5
to hush
33 3.4
to be quiet
231 1.0

Surface Forms

shut up infinitive
shutting up present participle
shuts up third person singular
shut up past
shut up past participle

Morphology

shut + up

The verb 'shut' (to close) plus the particle 'up' suggests a notion of closing completely, so a learner could infer a meaning related to stopping sound (e.g., 'close your mouth'). However, the expression functions as a phrasal verb/imperative with pragmatic force (often rude) that is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so a B1 learner might guess the general idea but not reliably infer formality/pragmatics and exact usage.

Etymology

Shut up The use of shut up to tell someone to be quiet comes from the image of closing the mouth. People told others to shut the mouth up, with up making the order stronger, so it now means 'be quiet' or 'stop talking'.