diff --git a/makefile.exe_progress b/makefile.exe_progress
index 2ea163b..d64c483 100644
--- a/makefile.exe_progress
+++ b/makefile.exe_progress
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ RELEASE?=0
 MEMCHK?=0
 UNDEFCHK?=0
 SAVECFLAGS?=1
-VERBOSE=0
+VERBOSE?=0
 
 ifneq ($(WINDOWS),1)
 	#*nix settings
@@ -136,6 +136,11 @@ ifeq ($(SAVECFLAGS),1)
 	OLD_COMPILEFLAGS::=$(file <$(CFLAGS_TMPFILE))
 endif
 
+#prefix '@' to build commands to squelch their output and only output progress report
+ifeq ($(VERBOSE),0)
+	SILENCER::=@
+endif
+
 #add dependency tracking and include directories
 INTERNAL_COMPILERFLAGS=-c $(foreach dir,$(INCLUDE_DIRS),-I"$(dir)") -MMD -MP -MF"$(DEPDIR)/$(notdir $(patsubst %.o,%.d,$@))"
 INTERNAL_LINKFLAGS=$(foreach dir,$(LIBDIRS),-L"$(dir)")