Nouns That Start With Q
A noun is a part of speech that serves as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.
The following list of nouns all start with the letter Q.
List of Nouns That Start With Q
| Noun Starting With Q | Definition | Synonym |
|---|---|---|
| Quack | A fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill. | Charlatan |
| Quadrant | A quarter of a circle or its circumference; a measuring instrument. | Sector |
| Quagga | An extinct South African zebra that had a yellow-brown coat with darker stripes. | – |
| Quagmire | Soft, boggy area of land that gives way underfoot. | Morass |
| Quahog | An edible clam with a hard shell found along the Atlantic coast of North America. | Hard-shell Clam |
| Quail | A small, short-tailed game bird resembling a small partridge. | Gamebird |
| Quake | A tremble or quivering, especially one caused by an earthquake. | Tremor |
| Quakegrass | A grass of the genus Elymus. | Wild Rye |
| Qualification | A quality or accomplishment that makes someone suitable for a particular job or activity. | Credential |
| Qualm | A feeling of doubt or uncertainty about whether one is doing the right thing. | Misgiving |
| Quango | A quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization to which a government has devolved power. | Agency |
| Quantum | A discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents. | Packet |
| Quarantine | A state of isolation in which people or animals that have been exposed to infectious or contagious diseases are placed. | Isolation |
| Quarrel | An angry argument or disagreement. | Dispute |
| Quarry | A place, typically a large, deep pit, from which stone or other materials are or have been extracted. | Pit |
| Quarryman | A person who extracts stone from a quarry. | Stonecutter |
| Quarter | One of four equal parts into which something is divisible; a fourth part. | Fourth |
| Quarterback | A player in American or Canadian football positioned behind the center who directs a team’s offensive play. | Playmaker |
| Quarterdeck | The part of a ship’s upper deck near the stern, traditionally reserved for officers. | Stern |
| Quarterfinal | A round of a competition just preceding the semifinal, typically involving eight competitors or teams. | Playoff |
| Quartermaster | A military officer responsible for providing quarters, rations, clothing, and other supplies. | Supplier |
| Quartz | A hard, crystalline mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms. | Mineral |
| Quasar | An extremely luminous active galactic nucleus, which is a supermassive black hole surrounded by an orbiting accretion disk of gas. | Celestial Object |
| Quassia | A bitter wood from a shrub or small tree, used as a flavoring agent and in medicine. | Bitterwood |
| Quatrefoil | A decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. | Four-leafed |
| Quaver | A shake or tremble in a person’s voice; also a musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note. | Tremble |
| Quay | A concrete, stone, or metal platform lying alongside or projecting into water for loading and unloading ships. | Wharf |
| Quayside | The edge of a quay. | Dockside |
| Queasiness | A state of nausea. | Nausea |
| Queenfish | A marine fish found in the western Atlantic Ocean. | – |
| Queendom | The rank, title, or dignity of a queen; a realm or domain presided over by a queen. | Realm |
| Quell | To put an end to a rebellion or other disorder, typically by the use of force. | Suppress |
| Quencher | Something that quenches, like a refreshing drink. | Drink |
| Querist | One who asks or inquires. | Inquirer |
| Query | A question, especially one addressed to an official or organization. | Inquiry |
| Quest | A long or arduous search for something. | Search |
| Questionnaire | A set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. | Survey |
| Queue | A line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed. | Line |
| Queue-jumper | A person who moves in ahead of others in a queue without waiting for their turn. | Line-cutter |
| Quibble | A slight objection or criticism about a trivial matter. | Nitpick |
| Quiche | A baked flan or tart with a savory filling thickened with eggs. | Tart |
| Quicklime | A white, caustic, lumpy powder made by heating limestone and used in building materials. | Burnt Lime |
| Quicksand | Loose, wet sand that yields easily to pressure and sucks in anything resting on or falling into it. | Mire |
| Quicksilver | Another name for the element mercury. | Mercury |
| Quid | A pound sterling. | Pound |
| Quiet | Making little or no noise. | Silent |
| Quietist | An adherent of quietism, a form of religious mysticism. | Mystic |
| Quill | The lower part of a feather; also a pen made from such a feather. | Pen |
| Quilt | A warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching, typically applied in a decorative design. | Bedcover |
| Quince | A hard, acidic pear-shaped fruit used in preserves or as flavoring. | Fruit |
| Quinoa | A grain crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. | Seed |
| Quintessence | The most perfect or typical example of a quality or class. | Epitome |
| Quintet | A group of five people playing music or singing together; also a composition for five voices or instruments. | Ensemble |
| Quintuplet | One of five children born to the same mother at one birth. | Sibling |
| Quip | A witty remark. | Jest |
| Quipu | An ancient Inca device for recording information, consisting of variously colored threads knotted in different ways. | Knot Record |
| Quirk | A peculiar behavioral habit. | Idiosyncrasy |
| Quisling | A traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying their country. | Traitor |
| Quiver | To tremble or shake with a slight rapid motion. | Shake |
| Quiz | A test of knowledge, especially a brief, informal test given to students. | Test |
| Quorum | The minimum number of members of an assembly or society that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid. | Minimum |
| Quota | A limited or fixed number or amount of people or things, in particular. | Allocation |
| Quotation | A group of words taken from a text or speech and repeated by someone other than the original author or speaker. | Citation |
| Quote | Repeat or copy out (words from a text or speech written or spoken by another person). | Cite |
| Quoth | Said (used in formal or archaic contexts, especially as a verb form in historical quotations). | Said |
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