安静
quiet; peaceful
ānjìng
What does 安静 mean?
安静 (ānjìng) is the everyday adjective for 'quiet' — used for places (a quiet library, a quiet street), for people (a quiet child, the room went quiet), and as a polite request (请安静 'please be quiet'). It carries a gentle, positive feel of peacefulness, not just absence of noise. Two contrasts matter for English speakers: first, 安静 describes the quality of a place or person, while 静 alone is more literary and often appears in compounds; second, the related word 安全 (ānquán, 'safe') shares the character 安 but means safety, not silence — beginners mix them up.
As a verb-like predicate it works without copula: 教室很安静 ('the classroom is very quiet'). The opposite is 吵 (chǎo, noisy).
Note: Works in any register. 请安静 ('please be quiet') is the polite imperative you see on library signs and hear from teachers; for a sharper 'be quiet!' shout, use 别说话 or the casual 嘘.
Character breakdown
peaceful; settled
still; silent
Memory hook: 安 shows a woman under a roof — peaceful at home; 静 means still. Together: peaceful stillness = quiet.
Example sentences
图书馆里很安静。
Túshūguǎn lǐ hěn ānjìng.
The library is very quiet.
neutral
请大家安静一下。
Qǐng dàjiā ānjìng yíxià.
Everyone, please quiet down for a moment.
polite
我想找一个安静的地方学习。
Wǒ xiǎng zhǎo yí gè ānjìng de dìfang xuéxí.
I want to find a quiet place to study.
neutral
孩子们终于安静下来了。
Háizimen zhōngyú ānjìng xiàlái le.
The kids finally quieted down.
spoken
Common phrases with 安静
Synonyms
Don't confuse 安静 with
FAQ
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