the rest is silence
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The last words of the dying Hamlet (Hamlet, v, 2).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the rest is silence” mean?
The last words of the dying Hamlet (Hamlet, v, 2).
Is “the rest is silence” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.