Still

Still adj Still, stilly, quiet, silent, noiseless can all mean making no stir or noise.

Still applies to what is motionless or at rest, often with the further implication of hush or absence of sound; sometimes one implication is stressed, sometimes the other, and sometimes both

{

ha! no more moving? still as the grave—Shak.

}

{

the crowd remained still, quietly stupefied, and with a shaky reverence— Styron

}

{

that chair, when you arose and passed out of the room, rocked silently a while ere it again was still— Millay

}

Stilly emphasizes the absence of sounds, but it usually implies also the absence of stir or motion

{

oft, in the stilly night, ere Slumber's chain has bound me— Thomas Moore

}

{

the rigidly haughty forms stretched out, with crossed arms upon their stilly hearts, in everlasting and undreaming rest— Melville

}

{

a mad rush of heavy feet went past his door, to speed over the stilly house—O'Casey

}

Quiet, like still, may imply absence of perceptible motion or sound or of both, but it carries stronger suggestions of lack of excitement, agitation, or turbulence, and of tranquillity, serenity, restfulness, or repose

{

through the green evening quiet in the sun— Keats

}

{

the happy stillness of dawn ... the quiet morning air— Meredith

}

{

a quiet town filled with people who lived quiet lives and thought quiet thoughts— Anderson

}

{

all the impetuous restlessness of her girlhood had left her and she had bloomed into a quiet half-indolent calm— Buck

}

Silent and noiseless differ from the other words of this group in being frequently applied to motion, movement, or stir that is unaccompanied by sound.

Silent usually carries more positive suggestions of stillness or quietness

{

the Earth . . . from West her silent course advance[s]— Milton

}

{

three mountaintops, three silent pinnacles of aged snow— Tennyson

}

whereas noiseless usually connotes absence of commotion or of sounds of activity or movement

{

along the cool sequestered vale of life they kept the noiseless tenor of their way— Gray

}

{

this quiet sail is as a noiseless wing to waft me from distraction— Byron

}

{

I looked out on a thoroughfare crowded with traffic, but yet a noiseless one— Fair child

}

Analogous words: *calm, tranquil, serene, placid, peaceful: restful, *comfortable

Antonyms: stirring: noisy

still vb *calm, compose, quiet, quieten, lull, soothe, settle, tranquilize

Analogous words: allay, assuage, alleviate, *relieve: *pacify, placate, mollify, appease: silence (see corresponding adjective at STILL)

Antonyms: agitate