hold one's peace
Bite your tongue
To hold one's peace is to remain silent, especially when you might otherwise speak up with an objection or opinion.
The phrase is most familiar from wedding ceremonies: Speak now or forever hold your peace.
Outside that context, it suggests deliberate restraint—choosing not to say what you're thinking: I disagreed but held my peace.
- tactSensitivity in speech
- self-controlAbility to restrain impulses
- muteWithout voice or sound
- quietLacking in sound
- keep quietRemain silent
hush · taciturnity · say nothing · decorum · forbearance · patience · let it go · prudence · abstention · reticence · discretion · stillness · silent treatment · civility · courtesy · deference · politeness · bite one's tongue
hold one's peacespeak up
Talk louder or opine
speak out · say one's piece · sound off · pipe up · have one's say
hold one's peaceprotest
Public expression of disapproval
make a scene · kick up a fuss · object · stir up trouble · cause a stir
hold, holds, holding, holder, holders, holdout, holdover, behold, beholden