To keep something secret by preventing people from talking about it, or to tell someone to be quiet.
To stop people from talking about something, or to tell someone to be quiet.
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To prevent a scandal, crime, or embarrassing fact from becoming public knowledge.
"The company tried to hush up the data breach before regulators found out."
The whole affair had been hushed up.
— George Orwell, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (1949)
To tell someone to stop talking or making noise.
"She hushed up her little brother so their parents wouldn't wake up."
The 'suppress a scandal' sense is very common in journalism and informal speech. The 'be quiet' sense is slightly old-fashioned in some dialects. Used across British and American English.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "hush up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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