keep mouth shut

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   to stay silent and not tell anyone what you know

   Grammar: Used with a possessive word before 'mouth': keep your mouth shut, keep his mouth shut.

   Patterns

   • keep your mouth shut
   • keep your mouth shut about something

   She told me to keep my mouth shut about the surprise party.

   If you want to keep this job, you'd better keep your mouth shut.

   He kept his mouth shut during the meeting, even though he disagreed.

2. 2phraseidiominformal

   to stop talking, often used as a rude command

   Grammar: Often used in the imperative as a direct, impolite order: Keep your mouth shut!

   Patterns

   • keep your mouth shut!

   Just keep your mouth shut and let me finish!

   The teacher snapped, 'Keep your mouth shut and listen.'

Common combinations

keep your mouth shut about something

He kept his mouth shut about the money he found.

keep your mouth shut and your eyes open

In this business, you keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.

be told to keep your mouth shut

We were told to keep our mouths shut until the announcement.

Synonyms and how they differ

keep quiet

Neutral and less idiomatic; it can also mean 'make no noise', not just 'say nothing'.

say nothing

Plain and direct; it does not carry the informal, slightly secretive tone of 'keep your mouth shut'.

keep it to yourself

Focuses on not sharing information, while 'keep your mouth shut' focuses on not speaking at all.

Opposites

Word family

shut up phrasal verb

A rude way to tell someone to stop talking.

tight-lipped adjective

Unwilling to say anything about a subject.

Commonly confused: keep mouth shut or keep your mouth full?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “keep mouth shut”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words