- calm
- calm adj Calm, tranquil, serene, placid, peaceful, halcyonmean quiet and free from all that disturbs or excites.Calm is primarily applied to sea or weather, usually conveys an implicit contrast with its opposite, stormy, and suggests freedom, real or assumed, from agitation of whatever sort{
as men for ever temp'rate, calm, and wise— Pope
}Tranquil implies a more settled composure, a more inherent quiet, than calm with less suggestion of previous agitation overcome{farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!— Shak.
}{the tranquil beauty of Greek sculpture— Fitz— Gerald
}{a tranquil trust in God amid tortures and death too horrible to be related— Motley
}Serene suggests a lofty and unclouded tranquillity{regions mild of calm and serene air, above the smoke and stir of this dim spot which men call Earth— Milton
}{the serene monotony that so often wears the aspect of happiness— Glasgow
}Placid connotes lack of excitement and suggests an unruffled and equable aspect or temper or even sometimes, in derogatory use, a hint of stupidity{to confirm by placid silences the fact that the wine had been good— Henry James
}{the placid common sense of Franklin—J. R. Lowell
}{she is as placid as a cow
}Peaceful (see also PACIFIC) implies repose or the attainment of undisturbed tranquillity{I am grown peaceful as old age tonight— Browning
}{they harried his hitherto peaceful domains— Irving
}Halcyon implies an almost magic or golden calmness especially of weather or of spirit{soft blue stone, the color of robins' eggs, or of the sea on halcyon days of summer— Cather
}{the long uproar over the passage of the Reform Bill compared to which the stormiest days of the New Deal were halcyon— D wight Macdonald
}Analogous words: *still, quiet, stilly, noiseless: *pacific, peaceable: *impassive, stoic: unruffled, composed, collected, imperturbable, unflappable, *coolAntonyms: stormy: agitatedContrasted words: shaken, rocked, convulsed (see SHAKE): disturbed, perturbed, discomposed, upset (see DISCOMPOSE)calm vb Calm, compose, quiet, quieten, still, lull, soothe, settle, tranquilize are comparable when they relate to persons and their feelings and moods and mean essentially to bring to an end or relieve from whatever distresses, agitates, or disturbs.Calm implies a previous disordered state and denotes a returning to inner quietude especially as aided by judgment, fortitude, or faith{Christian faith calmed in his soul the fear of change and death— Words-worth
}{her also I with gentle dreams have calmed— Milton
}Compose, often reflexive, retains its basic notion of arranging in order, specifically in an order that results in repose; it may heighten suggestions of conscious effort, resolution, and fortitude{my child, if ever you were brave and serviceable in your life . . . you will compose yourself now— Dickens
}{a most composed invincible man; in difficulty and distress, knowing no discouragement— Carlyle
}Quiet and quieten may connote a temporary external calmness in speech or demeanor rather than lasting inner calm{the most unreasonable of Franklin's impulses had now been quieted by this most reasonable of marriages— Van Doren
}These terms are likely to be used in indicating the effect of actions of persons in authority on others{threats to the physical well-being of the unborn baby can quieten a noisy and uncooperative patient in labor— Lancet
}Still is somewhat literary or poetic and stresses the fact of cessation of agitation{flattened, silenced, stilled— Woolf
}{a voice stilled by death
}It may suggest more peremptory action than the other terms compared and often connotes a return to quietude induced by power, authority, or awe{the debate was stilled by the crash of guns
}{it was Mary who stilled the hideous bawling of Peter— H. G. Wells
}Lull suggests the somnolence of lullaby, to which it is related{Aiken has lulled the reader with a seductive music and has transported him into the dreamworld of Freudian fantasy— Matthiessen
}It may, on the one hand, apply to the gentle easing of an infant into sleep (as by song or rocking) or, on the other hand, imply a sleepy relaxation into repose, complacence, unawareness, or apathy when one should be vigilant{we must not let a year or two of prosperity lull us into a false feeling of security— Truman
}Soothe suggests bland, gentle mitigation, assuagement, or solace{cooled their fevered sleep, and soothed them into slumbers full and deep— Keats
}{when they [babies] wake screaming and find none to soothe them— Lamb
}Settle (see also DECIDE) stresses the subsiding of swirling agitation and implies a stabilizing and easing of a mind or body previously upset (as by emotional excitement, illness, or intoxication){settled her stomach with peppermint tea
}{I'll read a bit before supper to settle my mind— Turnbull
}{if I can't settle my brains, your next news of me will be that I am locked up— Montagu
}Tranquilize in general use stresses the serenity and depth of peace achieved{when contemplation . . . sends deep into the soul its tranquilizing power— Wordsworth
}but in recent years it has acquired a more specific though closely related medical application in which it implies a relieving of mental tension and agitation by means of medication{tranquilizers will calm nervous cows for milking . . . . The most hopeful prospect in tranquilizing the animal world lies in the possibility it may change the attitude of some dogs toward postmen— Sacramento Bee
}Antonyms: agitate, arouseContrasted words: upset, perturb, disturb, disquiet, *discompose
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
