Words that Start with Q

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Words that Start with Q

This section will provide you with more information on the words that start with Q.

Interesting notes about the letter Q:

• The letter Q is the seventeenth letter of the English alphabet; it is a consonant.
• It has a hard sound \ k \ as in queen and is usually followed by the letter u.
• The Phoenicians used a circle with a stick going through to the top, which they called goph, the monkey, and may have represented a knot. It made a guttural \k\ sound.
• The Greeks used it for their number 90.
• The Romans and Etruscans kept it for Q.

The following are a couple of examples of words starting with Q.

Animals that start with Q

• Quail:  small gallinaceous game birds
  • We enjoy eating quail on special occasions.
• Quokka: A cat-sized marsupial, Setonix brachyurus, of southwestern Australia.
  • Australia has some strange animals, such as the quokka.

Places that start with Q

• Quarry: a surface excavation for extracting stone or slate
  • The quarry in town has limestone, which is used at the cement plant.
• Quarter: a district of a city having some distinguishing character
  • The food at the French quarter of New Oeleans is delicious. 

Words that describe people

• Quixotic: not sensible about practical matters; idealistic and unrealistic
  • My poor uncle is quixotic, so his chivalry toward women tends to get him in trouble as they don’t always need help.
• Qualified: meeting the proper standards and requirements and training for an office or position or task
  • Although he had just graduated, he was well qualified for the Supervisor position. 
• Quick: moving quickly and lightly
  • He was quick to move away from the oncoming water balloons. 

Words that describe an idea

• Quintessential: representing the perfect example of a class or quality
  • Our school has a quintessential philosophy: Put students first by focusing on their needs before the staff’s.
• Questionable: subject to question
  • It was a questionable idea to make the plates out of cardboard.
• Quirky:  (informal) strikingly unconventional
  • The quirky ideas for the new menu might be a hit or miss. 

Words that describe a place/event

• Quaint: attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)
  • My grandmother’s furniture is quaint and far more comfortable than modern furniture.
• Quietly: with little or no sound
  • The orchestra played their background music quietly. 
• Quartzous: Pertaining to quartz; made of quartz.
  • The quartzous palace seemed beautifully bright and dauntingly dangerous all at the same time.