How To Say “Shut Up” In Korean

Want to know how to tell someone to shut up in Korean? Well, you should be careful as there are many different ways to say “Shut up“, and if you use the wrong one, you could end up causing offense or something worse! But don’t worry! We will teach you all the different ways to say “Shut up” in Korean and explain which expression you should use in different situations.

Shut Up In Korean

Here are some common ways to says “Shut up” in Korean. All these expressions are informal and so if you’re not talking to a close friend or family member, you might want to use one of the ‘related expressions’ at the bottom of the page.

닥쳐! [dak-cheo]

This expression is probably the closest to “Shut up” in Korean. It literally means “be silent!“. 닥쳐 is considered very impolite, so use it sparingly!

입 닫아! [ip da-da]

This phrase means “close your mouth.” You can use this phrase if you want someone to be quiet or stop talking.

시끄럽다! [si-ggeu-reop-da]

This means “noisy” and can be used when you want to tell someone to be quiet and shut up.

조용히 해! [jo-yong-hi hae]

This phrase means “be quiet.” This is a little more polite way of telling someone to shut up, but it is still an informal expression. And so, you should only use this with your close friends, family, or people much younger than you.

가만히 있어! [ga-man-hi i-sseo]

This phrase means “be still.” You can use this phrase if someone is moving around too much or if you want them to stop talking and listen.

더 이상 말하지 마! [deo i-sang mal-ha-ji-ma]

This phrase literally means “don’t say anything more” and can be used when you want someone to stop talking and shut up.

Related Expressions

All of the above ways to say “Shut Up” are quite rude and should only be used with close friends and family. If you don’t want to sound so rude, then there are other expressions you can use to ask someone to be quite. Here are some more polite ways to tell someone to “shut up” in Korean:

조용히 하세요 [jo-yong-hi ha-se-yo]

This means “please be quiet” in Korean. This expression includes the polite imperative ending (으)세요 and so you can use this expression when you want to ask someone politely to be quite.

조용히 좀 하세요 [jo-yong-hi jom ha-se-yo]

This again means “please be quite“, but this time it has the added word 좀. This word is similar to using ‘just‘ in English. Its effect is it makes the expression sound softer, and so if you want to be polite and softly spoken when you tell someone to be quite, 조용히 좀 하세요 is the best expression to use.

시끄러워요 [si-ggeu-reo-weo-yo]

This literally says, “It’s noisy/You’re noisy”, and can be used when you want to encourage someone to quiet down. Although this expression does have the polite ending 요 attached, it is not as polite as the previous two expressions.

Now that you know how to say “shut up” in Korean, you can use it in all sorts of situations. Just remember that unless you are talking with a close friend/family member, then you’re best to use one of the polite expressions above. Before you go, if you’re serious about learning Korean, then check out our free online Korean language course.