What’s your favorite part of speech? Do you love to modify subjects and objects with adjectives? Maybe you love to take action with new verbs. But, what about nouns? Without nouns, we wouldn’t be able to formulate complete sentences.
We wouldn’t be able to describe our favorite quarry or analyze Johnny’s qualifications as a business partner. Read on to uncover many more quirky nouns that start with Q!
50 Nouns Starting With Q
Fifty nouns starting with Q seems like a lot. But, don’t doubt! Below, we have a full list, along with a definition and a sampling of synonyms for each term.
Noun | Definition | Synonym |
a person who claims to have a specific skill that he does not have | charlatan, cheat, fraud | |
a large open area surrounded on four sides by buildings | quadrangle, courtyard, enclosure | |
a fourth or quarter portion of a shape | quad, quarter, segment | |
a bad situation | dilemma, impasse, predicament | |
a small, short-tailed game bird | bird, fowl | |
a shaking or tremor | aftershock, jitter, quiver | |
an ability or aptitude | capability, competence, skill | |
a person or thing that fits the requirement for something | suitor, candidate, competitor | |
a distinctive characteristic or trait | attribute, element, essence | |
a nagging doubt | anxiety, apprehension, uneasiness | |
a delicate situation | bind, difficulty, predicament | |
an amount, measure, or number | sum, bulk, extent | |
a specified amount or portion | measure, quantity, sum | |
the place where someone or something is kept separate from others because of a contagious illness | confinement, restriction, isolation | |
a disagreement | argument, combat, dispute | |
a place where stones are extracted | chase, dig, mine | |
a unit of measure for 1/4 gallon of liquids | 32 fluid ounces | |
one-fourth of something | fourth, quad, quadrant | |
an offensive back who calls the play and passes the ball in American football | QB, back, captain | |
one of the rounds of matches preceding the semifinals | tournament, matchup, game | |
any group of four persons or things | foursome, ensemble | |
crystallized forms of silica | stone, amethyst, gem | |
a wharf built into the water to load or unload vessels | dock, jetty, slip | |
the state of being nauseous | nausea, sickness, disgust | |
a woman who rules a country or is married to a king | empress, monarch, sovereign | |
a question | challenge, examination, inquiry | |
a search to find something | adventure, crusade, pursuit | |
the asking of something | inquiry, interrogation, inquest | |
a form or a document that contains a series of questions to be answered | survey, poll, canvas | |
a lineup waiting for something | line, order, succession | |
an objection or complaint | objection, complaint, evasion | |
a dish baked in a pastry shell with various ingredients | pie, pastry, tart | |
rapidity of movement | acumen, agility, briskness | |
a deep, semifluid deposit of sand where a heavy object may be engulfed | quagmire, snare, trap | |
a mixture of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors | mercury, ore, metal | |
one British pound | pound, money, dollar | |
a fictional sport created by J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter series | sport, game, competition | |
an absence of sound | hush, quiet, silence | |
a pen for writing made from the stiff feather of a bird | feather, pen, plume | |
a blanket made from layers of fabric | bedspread, comforter, duvet | |
a golden, hard, apple-shaped fruit from a small tree | fruit, pome | |
a high-protein seed that can be ground into flour | seed, grain, cereal | |
a group of five things, particularly a group of five musicians | fivesome, band, troupe | |
a unique behavior or characteristic | aberration, eccentricity, idiosyncrasy | |
a person who gives up easily | chicken, coward, deserter | |
a shaking or vibration | flutter, jerk, shudder | |
a questioning or short test | exam, examination, test | |
the part of a goal assigned to someone | allotment, apportionment, proportion | |
words or phrases taken from someone else’s writing | citation, excerpt, passage | |
the result when you divide one number by another | division, outcome, computation |
What Is a Noun?
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. When we use them in our writing, we often need to place an article before them, as in “a queen” or “the quotation.”
One of the primary functions of nouns is to act as the subject of the sentence. So, in the sentence, “The quiz is easy,” “quiz” is a noun. Nouns also like to act as direct objects. In the sentence, “Sheila met her quota,” “quota” is the direct object. It’s the object of the verb “met.”
Types of Nouns
There’s a huge quotient of nouns out there. Here are five of the most common categories of nouns:
- Proper nouns name specific things, like the names of people, cities, states, countries, buildings, and books. As proper nouns, they are capitalized. So, “Queens, New York” is a proper noun, but “borough” is a common noun.
- Common nouns refer to general items, such as “quay” instead of “Lonsdale Quay.”
- Abstract nouns are used when you can’t touch the noun. These nouns are theoretical, such as “quiet” or “quest.”
- Collective nouns refer to large groups, such as a “quad” of students or a “quiver” of arrows.
- Possessive nouns demonstrate ownership over something else. With “Quincy’s bracelet,” “Quincy’s” is a possessive noun, indicating that he owns the bracelet.
To continue to explore these categories, check out Types of Nouns.
10 Example Sentences
Did you think the letter Q had so many viable nouns? Let’s take 10 of the 50 above and watch them hard at work in these sentences:
- I loved walking through the quad at my university in Ireland.
- Do you hear the call of the quail?
- Do you feel the quake from that tractor-trailer?
- What are his qualifications for this job?
- I’m in such a quandary, I don’t even know where to begin.
- He had such a silly little quibble with his roommate.
- I’m so glad my queasiness is over.
- I love the quietness of this place.
- She has a lot of funny quirks.
- Taylor’s studying for tomorrow’s science quiz.
Go on a Quest for Q-Words
Are you ready to expand your vocabulary with even more Q-words? Take your language skills to the next level by investigating words that start with the letter Q on WordFinder by YourDictionary. First, you’ll get a queue of words organized by the number of letters, then you can quickly query to create a custom word list using the on-screen search feature that’ll make easy work of your quest for words of a certain length or that end with or include other letters in addition to Q. What a fun solution for vocabulary building!
No Quandary with Q-Nouns
There’s no quandary with Q-nouns. They’re fabulous! Allow them to add memorable quirks to your writing in ample quantity. Best of all, see if you can pepper in a few Q-adjectives, too. You might surprise your readers! When you’re ready, check out these Adjectives That Start With Q. It’s a quick way to add a quizzical quality to your writing!