hush
/hʌʃ/verb, noun
hush is spelled H-U-S-H: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, hush means “To become quiet” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in hush?
| Letters | 4: H-U-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hush?
Hush appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hush?
- /hʌʃ/
- /hʊʃ/
Hush has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-AcpoKrane-hush.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hush
- hushes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- hushing participle, present
- hushed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hush mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To become quiet.
- 2
To make quiet.
- 3
To appease; to allay; to soothe.
- 4
ScotlandTo rush, to gush.
On the fluir, bluid an punch now hush't leyke a stream, […]
- 5
To send forth a rush of water over (some ground) so as to clear off the soil and other materials overlying, and thus uncover or separate out, ore.
[…] worn its Chanel so deep in some Part of its Course as to work upon some mineral Substance, which gives it the Colour of Water hushed from Lead-mines, and is so strong as to tinge the River Derwent […]
noun
- 1
A silence, especially after some noise.
- 2
Water which has been used to clear the soil off of some (area of) rock or ore.
The great cause of the scarcity of fish in this river is without doubt the "hush" coming down from the lead mines in the upper waters. […]
- 3
A part of a mine or quarry where ore is to be, or has been, excavated by an artificial flow of water.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hush in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | verstummen, still werden , zum Schweigen bringen , Stille, Ruhe |
| Spanish | callar, callarse , acallar , silencio , calmar |
| French | silence |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hush come from?
From Middle English huschen (“to hush”) (as past participle husht (“silent; hushed”) and interjection husht (“quiet!”)). Cognate with Low German huschen, hüssen (“to hush; lull”), German huschen (“to shoo; scurry”), Danish hysse (“to hush”), and maybe Albanian hesht.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).