diff --git a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
index c5fa3f6ec..73b127d40 100644
--- a/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
+++ b/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen.
 ( paste your output here )
 ```
 
-**Does `dredd --level=debug` uncover something?**
+**Does `dredd --loglevel=debug` uncover something?**
 If you run Dredd with debugging output, do you see any interesting information relevant to the bug?
 
 **Can you send us failing test in a Pull Request?**
diff --git a/docs/usage-cli.rst b/docs/usage-cli.rst
index c7041f3e7..849a41348 100644
--- a/docs/usage-cli.rst
+++ b/docs/usage-cli.rst
@@ -70,9 +70,8 @@ See below how sample configuration file could look like. The structure is the sa
    inline-errors: false
    details: false
    method: []
-   level: info
+   loglevel: warning
    timestamp: false
-   silent: false
    path: []
    blueprint: api-description.apib
    endpoint: "http://127.0.0.1:3000"
diff --git a/docs/usage-js.rst b/docs/usage-js.rst
index ead5826b2..06f6c1607 100644
--- a/docs/usage-js.rst
+++ b/docs/usage-js.rst
@@ -39,8 +39,7 @@ Let’s have a look at an example configuration first. (Please also see the :ref
        'dry-run': false, // Boolean, do not run any real HTTP transaction
        'names': false,   // Boolean, Print Transaction names and finish, similar to dry-run
 
-       'level': 'info', // String, log-level (info, silly, debug, verbose, ...)
-       'silent': false, // Boolean, Silences all logging output
+       'loglevel': 'warning', // String, logging level (debug, warning, error, silent)
 
        'only': [],      // Array of Strings, run only transaction that match these names
 
diff --git a/lib/configuration.js b/lib/configuration.js
index a839265b9..122fae420 100644
--- a/lib/configuration.js
+++ b/lib/configuration.js
@@ -32,10 +32,21 @@ function applyLoggingOptions(options) {
   logger.transports.console.timestamp = options.timestamp;
   reporterOutputLogger.transports.console.timestamp = options.timestamp;
 
-  logger.transports.console.silent = options.silent;
-  reporterOutputLogger.transports.console.silent = options.silent;
+  if (options.loglevel) {
+    const loglevel = options.loglevel.toLowerCase();
+    if (loglevel === 'silent') {
+      logger.transports.console.silent = true;
+    } else if (loglevel === 'warning') {
+      logger.transports.console.level = 'warn';
+    } else if (['debug', 'warn', 'error'].includes(loglevel)) {
+      logger.transports.console.level = loglevel;
+    } else {
+      throw new Error(`Unsupported logging level: '${loglevel}'`);
+    }
+  } else {
+    logger.transports.console.level = 'warn';
+  }
 
-  logger.transports.console.level = options.level;
   reporterOutputLogger.transports.console.level = 'test';
 
   return options;
@@ -52,7 +63,6 @@ function applyConfiguration(config) {
     },
     options: {
       'dry-run': false,
-      silent: false,
       reporter: null,
       output: null,
       debug: false,
@@ -63,7 +73,7 @@ function applyConfiguration(config) {
       method: [],
       only: [],
       color: true,
-      level: 'info',
+      loglevel: 'warning',
       timestamp: false,
       sorted: false,
       names: false,
diff --git a/lib/configureReporters.js b/lib/configureReporters.js
index 68ca16788..60e548056 100644
--- a/lib/configureReporters.js
+++ b/lib/configureReporters.js
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ function configureReporters(config, stats, tests, runner) {
     }
   }
 
-  if (!config.options.silent) { addCli(reporters); }
+  addCli(reporters);
 
   const usedFileReporters = intersection(reporters, fileReporters);
 
diff --git a/lib/logger.js b/lib/logger.js
index 9417f1f17..3792d6f65 100644
--- a/lib/logger.js
+++ b/lib/logger.js
@@ -5,16 +5,16 @@ module.exports = new (winston.Logger)({
     new (winston.transports.Console)({ colorize: true }),
   ],
   levels: {
-    silly: 5,
-    debug: 4,
+    debug: 5,
+    silly: 4,
     verbose: 3,
     info: 2,
     warn: 1,
     error: 0,
   },
   colors: {
-    silly: 'gray',
     debug: 'cyan',
+    silly: 'gray',
     verbose: 'magenta',
     info: 'blue',
     warn: 'yellow',
diff --git a/lib/options.json b/lib/options.json
index a310084f5..6ac1667d0 100644
--- a/lib/options.json
+++ b/lib/options.json
@@ -92,21 +92,16 @@
     "description": "Determines whether console output should include colors.",
     "default": true
   },
-  "level": {
+  "loglevel": {
     "alias": "l",
-    "description": "The level of logging to output. Options: silly, debug, verbose, info, warn, error.",
-    "default": "info"
+    "description": "The level of logging to output. Options: 'debug', 'warning', 'error', 'silent'.",
+    "default": "warning"
   },
   "timestamp": {
     "alias": "t",
     "description": "Determines whether console output should include timestamps.",
     "default": false
   },
-  "silent": {
-    "alias": "q",
-    "description": "Silences commandline output.",
-    "default": false
-  },
   "path": {
     "alias": "p",
     "description": "Additional API description paths or URLs. Can be used multiple times with glob pattern for paths.",