: the practice of doing the minimum amount of work required for one's job
Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one's job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. As such, it is something of a misnomer, since the worker doesn't actually leave their position and continues to collect a salary.—
Greg Daugherty
Greg DaughertyI recently learned about this term called quiet quitting, where you're not outright quitting your job, but you're quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You're still performing your duties, but you're no longer subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life.—Zaid Khan (@zaidleppelin), on TikTok
Zaid Khan (@zaidleppelin), on TikTokFor many employees, quiet quitting is a form of setting boundaries in a professional context.—Megan Prevost
Megan PrevostIn schools—especially those with unionized teachers—quiet quitting may sound a lot like the "work to rule" concept when employees stick to official working rules and hours exactly to the letter.—Elizabeth Heubeck
Elizabeth Heubeckquiet quitting
2 of 2present participle of quiet quit
Examples of quiet quitting in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Vicki Salemi, Boston Herald, 28 July 2025
Over time, this has the potential to turn into quiet quitting or becoming totally unengaged.
—Elizabeth Pearson, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Change fatigue also can lead to quiet quitting, a trend that occurred in the pandemic’s wake, as some employees chose to do only the minimum work required for their jobs.
—Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
The corporate landscape is so misaligned from modern needs that phenomena like quiet quitting–psychologically disengaging from work and doing the bare minimum–have become prevalent.
—True Tamplin, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
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Noun
Similarly, recent workplace trends of quiet quitting, essentially pushing back on your workload to a minimum while you’re mentally checked out, fell under this umbrella too.
—Vicki Salemi, Boston Herald, 28 July 2025
Over time, this has the potential to turn into quiet quitting or becoming totally unengaged.
—Elizabeth Pearson, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Change fatigue also can lead to quiet quitting, a trend that occurred in the pandemic’s wake, as some employees chose to do only the minimum work required for their jobs.
—Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
The corporate landscape is so misaligned from modern needs that phenomena like quiet quitting–psychologically disengaging from work and doing the bare minimum–have become prevalent.
—True Tamplin, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for quiet quitting
Cite this Entry
“Quiet quitting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quiet%20quitting. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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