quicksilver

1 of 2

noun

quick·​sil·​ver ˈkwik-ˌsil-vər 

: mercury sense 2a

quicksilver

2 of 2

adjective

: resembling or suggestive of quicksilver

especially : mercurial sense 3

Examples of quicksilver in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

With her pagoda-roof eyelashes and her quicksilver physicality, Grande gives real comic shape to Glinda’s popular-girl frivolity. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024

There’s a quicksilver brilliance to her Berniece, a widow still grieving her husband, a daughter acutely feeling the loss of her parents, a mother determined to shield her daughter from generational trauma, and a woman contemplating her own future, romantic, economic, spiritual, and otherwise. —Radhika Seth, Vogue, 22 Nov. 2024

Adjective

The comment was made when internet companies were thought to be quicksilver entities rather than institutions building legacies. —Joanne McNeil, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1655, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

quicksilver

noun

quick·​sil·​ver

-ˌsil-vər

: mercury sense 1a

Etymology

Noun

Old English cwicseolfor, from cwic "alive" and seolfor "silver"

Word Origin

The metal mercury resembles silver in color. Unlike silver and most other metals, though, mercury is liquid at ordinary temperatures. For that reason it is able to flow and to move almost as if it were alive. The Old English word for mercury was cwicseolfor, a combination of cwic, meaning "alive" or "moving," and seolfor, meaning "silver." The Modern English quicksilver comes from the Old English cwicseolfor.

Medical Definition

quicksilver

noun

quick·​sil·​ver -ˌsil-vər 

: mercury sense 1