a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly)quietlyqui‧et‧ly /ˈkwaɪətli/ ●●● S3 W3 adverb 
Rosa shut the door quietly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly)2in a way that does not attract attention: The mayor had been aiming to quietly turn over control of the city’s water to private business interests. The government hoped that their early mishandling of the crisis could be quietly forgotten.3without protesting, complaining, or fighting: Now are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force? Speculation is growing that Grogan will be replaced at the end of the season, and he is unlikely to go quietly.4quietly confident especially British English fairly confident of success, but without talking proudly about it: Adam came out of the interview feeling quietly confident.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
- The meeting was quietly arranged to avoid reporters.
- Compared with them, however, Harry possessed one crucial advantage: the right to decide that he would not go quietly.
- I moved quietly and slowly, pressing myself against the outer wall of the building.
- I sat quietly and listened to their exchange.
- Insects, worn out after a night of chirping, were quietly asleep.
- The film is quietly handed over to the Flag Day chairman, and his office distributes it.
- The patrol moves quietly from its position of all-round defence.
- When he wins, he looks quietly pleased.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly) The government hoped that their early mishandling of the crisis could be quietly forgotten. Now are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force? Speculation is growing that Grogan will be replaced at the end of the season, and he is unlikely to go quietly.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time. The two communities live peacefully alongside each other. She thought that she would get married and live happily ever after (=like in a children’s story). Some people like to live dangerously. Most elderly people prefer to live independently if they can.
a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly) The government hoped that their early mishandling of the crisis could be quietly forgotten. Now are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force? Speculation is growing that Grogan will be replaced at the end of the season, and he is unlikely to go quietly. He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time.· People sat crying softly among the wreckage.
The two communities live peacefully alongside each other. She thought that she would get married and live happily ever after (=like in a children’s story). Some people like to live dangerously. Most elderly people prefer to live independently if they can. (=without talking)· Mac sat quietly in the back of the car.
· He was weeping quietly, allowing the tears to run down his cheeks.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time.· As an actor, Poitier was quite effective in his understated, quietly confident way.· Wise Speke is quietly confident that Whessoe has made a good deal for its longer term development.· Then she moved a little in front, quietly confident now, the Rabari genius embodied in her.· Chief Inspector Berret was quietly confident.· We were quietly confident that whatever might happen to Hsu Fu we would be able to give the raft the best chance.· Rover, too, is quietly confident.· Red Rock West is a slow-burn thriller, wry and dry, implausible and quietly confident about itself.
VERB· His cooperation over the Dayton agreement led to talk of war crimes charges being quietly dropped, only to resurface over Kosovo.· One day he was quietly dropped.· It would be in everyone's interests if the plans were quietly dropped.· A familiar Dream Team face dropped quietly into town on Monday, and another will be seen on Tuesday.· Knowing that our minds are elsewhere, banks and building societies will quietly drop the rates on our savings account.· But the least bad option for Britain would be for the project of Emu itself to be quietly dropped.· She heard him drop quietly on the other side, and draw the bolt.· Critics claim that the courts in effect quietly dropped the just desserts policy two years ago.
· I went below, then took off my shoes and went quietly up the other stairs to watch him.· Intel judged the flaw to be minor, hid the truth from customers and quietly went about correcting the problem.· When the message came, he left the smithy and went quietly up to the castle.· Richard Lamm, who believes seniors owe it to the nation to go quietly, inexpensively and soon.· She used her key and went quietly into the house.· But not all well-off, high-profile defendants go quietly.· She liked to go quietly, not ask too many questions, never to interfere.· Instead, she quietly went to her local doctor for anti-inflammatory drugs.
· Then Sandison laughed quietly and Maidstone smiled.· Jim Feng laughed quietly: a monotone chuckling.· The man got on to the ship, and talked and laughed quietly with his friends.· She laughs quietly to herself, as if she is remembering some family story, then looks sad.
· Just quietly leave a picture of Danniella Westbrook's disintegrating nose on the kitchen table.· Put three movie fans in front of the computer, start the game and quietly leave.· And in the morning she would pack up and quietly leave, would never see this disturbing family again.· Peter flipped one to Jim and quietly left the room.· Candotti nodded once and then again, as though confirming something, and left quietly.· If on the other hand they wished him to go, he should be told immediately so that the could leave quietly.· They left quietly when asked but their pictures gave fun to the newspapers.· After my friends had left quietly, some two hours later, I undressed and tumbled into bed.
· I lay quietly, to see what would happen next.· It would be so much better to have cots down there, so that we could lie quietly while the planes passed.· He was able to lie quietly and calmly without feeling guilt-ridden about his idleness.· I lay quietly on my bed most of the day, and Charlotte sat in the next room writing.· He lay quietly for a long while, getting his bearings, remembering how he came to be in this bed.· It was a dark night and she lay quietly until she was satisfied that her parents were asleep.· The child lay quietly against his chest, on the brink of sleep and so obviously relishing their closeness.· Afterwards, they lay quietly together, wrapped in each other's arms, smiling a little, totally at peace.
· He retired to live quietly at first at Oatlands Park, maintaining his religious Nonconformity.· A lawn-mowing, mall-shopping, jeep-commuting suburbanite, he lives quietly in Acton with his wife and two sons and shuns publicity.· In recent years, Bradman lived quietly in an Adelaide suburb, protecting his privacy and rarely venturing out.· Now Mr Ghazala lives quietly and writes books in Cairo.· He continued his travels, but for the most part lived quietly in Sussex.· The family lived quietly in their house.· He lived quietly in Nuremberg for a further seventeen years until his death in 1634.· After a few years' disgrace they were back living quietly but comfortably in Moscow.
· She moved quietly, her bony old hands precise and efficient.· I moved quietly and slowly, pressing myself against the outer wall of the building.· He loves his back-seat role, moving quietly up and down the lines, constantly persuading and cajoling.· The bills quietly moved through legislative committees and were adopted by both chambers on the final night of the session.· Then moving quietly along the landing in his bare feet, he came to Jenny's bedroom door.· Marion Aluinn moved quietly away from behind the doorpost.· The firing continued for another hour, and I moved quietly through the trees to the shore.· His lips were moving quietly as he mouthed to himself what he would do if ever he had Corbett in his power.
· Then we asked the students to sit quietly with their eyes closed and think about the costs.· They sit quietly on the locker-room benches, their faces solemn, their eyes averted.· But one evening - a full hour before her usual meal - I sat quietly in the armchair, reading.· I sat quietly and listened to their exchange.· When you finish, sit quietly for several moments, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened.· At their services they sat quietly, eyes lowered and hands folded, waiting for the Spirit to prompt some one to speak.· The girl sat quietly in the sunshine for a few minutes.· So they could sit quietly adding block after block to various buildings they were constructing.
· When I got up to go to bed, I saw Emily sitting quietly by the fire.· Linda turns to John, who, eggs long finished, has been sitting quietly.· Police eyebrows were raised when they described how they prayed sitting quietly in a circle.· I looked down at the two ships sitting quietly on the ground.· Sammy, who had been sitting quietly by their feet, jumped up and began barking.· Cross-country running did you good; and haddock; and sitting quietly in deck-chairs.· Yuan was sitting quietly behind him.· He was sitting quietly, drinking his tea.
· She got up and slipped quietly out of the door.· Then he kissed my forehead and quietly slipped out of the room.· Theda slipped quietly into the house, leaving them to their quarrel.· It was no longer possible to slip quietly by, and we walked within open range of the farms.· He wasn't doing any showing off when he slipped quietly away into Orrie's shed.· Harriet hesitated, then her natural impatience won the day and she slipped quietly towards the exit.· I slipped quietly across the courtyard, pushed open the door and stepped into the darkness.· The following day Agrippa announced we would leave and we slipped quietly out of Nottingham and took the road south.
· Miklós, in his middle fifties, is a tall, quietly spoken but imposing figure, very self-possessed.· Sadlowski spoke quietly, moderately, as if he was the statesman and not McBride.· The man spoke quietly to the horse, soothing it.· She was speaking quietly, and there were screams in the background, along with the unmistakable sound of children crying.· Horowitz had spoken quietly, the words spaced out.· Father and Edna spoke quietly about the park, the tourists, and mentioned some veterans' gatherings and the World Series.· He was, however, quietly spoken, and also very humorous.· As she assembled the supplies, he spoke quietly from the next room. ` I think a rib broke.
· He was standing quietly and hadn't spoken at all.· One of them quietly stands up, bows to the other, and then gets off alone at his stop.· Three young Arabs got out and stood quietly talking together.· Among those watching the Fremont Street Experience are dozens of children, including the one who stands quietly near Elvis.· Tallis just stood quietly, cloak around her shoulders, iron-bladed spear held in two hands.· A comrade loosened his grasp, and his faithful gray stood quietly...· Different types of customer Stand quietly for about five minutes in any busy shop and study the different shoppers.· He stood quietly and watched the boxes being unloaded.
· They stayed there, talking quietly together until Annunziata came in to lay the table.· Claude and Ruth were talking quietly with Pat, who sat cross-legged on the sofa.· He passed the Post Office, where a young black man, tall and well dressed, stood talking quietly to himself.· Everyone else in the tent talked quietly, keeping a space around the mourning man.· He didn't talk quietly - he shouted at me.· Instead, we teach our children to talk quietly, to talk less, and to stay out of the way.· That way his head is right next to John's, and they can talk quietly.· The two companies had been talking quietly since April.
· In the prison Justine waited quietly for death.· Lou Taylor remembered seeing an older resident just sitting, by the doorway of her house, quietly waiting.· I was instructed not to be too early - to wait quietly outside the entrance and not make a nuisance of myself.· Ranulf stood watch while they waited quietly for the man to die.· She waited quietly, and then looked down the road.· Just after a quarter to one, I came to the pipe and waited quietly in its shadow.· Usually he just sat at his desk and waited quietly for four o'clock to come, when he could go home.
· He was just quietly walking into the wall, while the rest of us stood around in an awkward half-circle.· The guy he was referring to was walking quietly to-ward us, a sergeant wearing a white helmet and bright armbands.· In choked desolation, she watched him walk quietly to the door and let himself out.· I have been prepared for defeat, have welcomed failure, and have quietly walked away from every enterprise that engaged me.· Feeling shaken and hurt, she walked quietly upstairs.· He turned off the light, walked quietly to the stairs, and started up.· A number of people were walking quietly to and fro, studying the architecture, referring to guide-books and conversing in low voices.· I can now walk quietly except for a low, muffled crunching under my footsteps.
· I prefer to work quietly behind the scenes.· He worked quietly behind her, one and a-two, breathing through his nose.· He found her quietly working in her office, surveying the extent of her financial empire on a monitor screen.· After five several family members were there, and it was hard to work quietly.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- As an actor, Poitier was quite effective in his understated, quietly confident way.
- Chief Inspector Berret was quietly confident.
- He is quietly confident that there will be no problems this time.
- Rover, too, is quietly confident.
- Stay quietly confident of your own knowledge of truth.
- Then she moved a little in front, quietly confident now, the Rabari genius embodied in her.
- We were quietly confident that whatever might happen to Hsu Fu we would be able to give the raft the best chance.
- Wise Speke is quietly confident that Whessoe has made a good deal for its longer term development.
WORD FAMILYnounquietdisquietquietnessquietismquietudeverbquietenquietadjectivequietadverbquietly
1without making much noise: Rosa shut the door quietly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. a quietly-spoken man (=one who always speaks quietly)2in a way that does not attract attention: The mayor had been aiming to quietly turn over control of the city’s water to private business interests. The government hoped that their early mishandling of the crisis could be quietly forgotten.3without protesting, complaining, or fighting: Now are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force? Speculation is growing that Grogan will be replaced at the end of the season, and he is unlikely to go quietly.4quietly confident especially British English fairly confident of success, but without talking proudly about it: Adam came out of the interview feeling quietly confident.