Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Nearly or completely motionless; undisturbed: the calm surface of the lake.
- adj. Not excited or agitated; composed: The President was calm throughout the global crisis.
- n. An absence or cessation of motion; stillness.
- n. Serenity; tranquillity; peace.
- n. A condition of no wind or a wind with a speed of less than 1 mile (2 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale.
- v. To make or become calm or quiet: A warm bath will calm you. After the storm, the air calmed.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The condition of being without motion, agitation, or disturbance; stillness: properly of the air, and hence of the sea and of the weather in general.
- n. Freedom from mental agitation or passion; tranquillity; quiet; serenity.
- n. The scum of liquor.
- Without motion; still; not stormy; undisturbed; not agitated; serene.
- Free from mental agitation; undisturbed by passion; not agitated or excited; quiet; serene; tranquil, as the mind, temper, or attention: as, “calm words,”
- Synonyms Calm, Placid, Tranquil, Serene, Quiet, Cool, Composed, Collected, smooth, peaceful, unruffled, imperturbable. All the italicized words, when applied to the mind, still suggest the physical phenomena which they primarily denote. Calm implies that the mind remains unagitated, even by care and anxiety. There is a tendency to use the word to express the most complete mastery of the emotions; but it is also used for the mere outward manner: as, in spite of his anger, he remained calm. Placid is by derivation associated with the notion of pleasure; it generally applies to that which belongs to the nature, but is also especially used of the face: as, a placid smile. Tranquil implies not so much a mastery of self amid disturbing circumstances as freedom from that which agitates, a settled calm. Serene, by its association with the aspects of the sky, implies an exalted calm, a tranquillity that rises above clouds or storms. Quiet, when applied to the disposition, implies that the person is naturally silent and undemonstrative; externally it implies that one is free from annoyances: as, to leave him in quiet. Like tranquil, but unlike the rest, it is not suggestive of a triumph of self-control over natural agitation of feelings or confusion of mind. Cool is the opposite of heated; it indicates that state in which the heat of feeling is perfectly kept down, so that the intellectual faculties are not hindered from their best operation. Composed is applicable to the state of both thoughts and feelings, while collected, gathered together, can be used only with reference to the thoughts. Composed differs from collected also in expressing, like calm, merely a frame of mind; while collected, like cool, expresses a readiness for action with the full and unimpeded force of the mind. See apathy.
- To still; quiet, as the wind or elements.
- To still, appease, allay, or pacify, as the mind or passions.
- To becalm.
- To become calm or quiet: as, the tempest now began to calm.
- n. A cog of a wheel.
- n. plural A mold; a frame, etc.
- n. plural The small cords through which the warp is passed in a loom.
- n. A dialectal form of qualm.
Wiktionary
- adj. of a person Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety.
- adj. of a place or situation Free of noise and disturbance.
- adj. of water with little waves on the surface.
- n. in a person The state of being calm; peacefulness; absence of worry, anger, fear or other strong negative emotion.
- n. in a place or situation The state of being calm; absence of noise and disturbance.
- n. A period of time without wind.
- v. transitive To make calm.
- v. intransitive To become calm.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Freedom from motion, agitation, or disturbance; a cessation or absence of that which causes motion or disturbance, as of winds or waves; tranquility; stillness; quiet; serenity.
- v. To make calm; to render still or quiet, as elements.
- v. To deliver from agitation or excitement; to still or soothe, as the mind or passions.
- adj. Not stormy; without motion, as of winds or waves; still; quiet; serene; undisturbed.
- adj. Undisturbed by passion or emotion; not agitated or excited; tranquil; quiet in act or speech.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make calm or still
- adj. not agitated; without losing self-possession
- adj. (of weather) free from storm or wind
- n. wind moving at less than 1 knot; 0 on the Beaufort scale
- v. make steady
- v. cause to be calm or quiet as by administering a sedative to
- v. become quiet or calm, especially after a state of agitation
- n. steadiness of mind under stress
Etymologies
- From Old French calme, from Old Italian calma. Calma may derive from Latin cauma ("heat of the midday sun"), from Ancient Greek καῦμα (kauma, "heat, especially of the sun"), from καίω (kaiō, "I burn"), or possibly from Latin caleō, from Ancient Greek (Doric) κάλεoς (of the Ionic κήλεος ("burning")). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English calme, from Old French, from Old Italian calmo, from Late Latin cauma, heat of the day, resting place in the heat of the day, from Greek kauma, burning heat, from kaiein, to burn. N., from Middle English calme, from Italian calma, from Vulgar Latin *calma, from Late Latin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Labour, equally keen on personal attacks, none the less claimed the phrase "calm down, dear" was both patronising and, worse, sexist.”
The Guardian: David Cameron's 'calm down, dear' tarnishes the new Tory brand
“Then he faced them, head up, his expression calm but watchful.”
“Years of control kept his expression calm and impassive; his gray eyes revealed nothing of what was going on inside him.”
“Susan looked at her ex-husband, her expression calm.”
“Murphy stayed beside me, her expression calm, her blue eyes alert for physical danger.”
“He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression calm.”
“NASR: Then, moving to other news, Press TV, as well as other local channels, highlighted what they described as calm and quiet streets, totally under control according to this newscaster.”
“Keeping her expression calm, Alexis casually stuck four forks into her hair so that they formed a peak like a tepee.”
“Would he like his legacy to be to help establish what you referred to as calm, so that when he leaves the White House, his successor, whoever that may be, can then proceed with serious progress toward a long-term peace --”
“Next Week's Challenge: From puzzle writer Francis Heaney: Take the word "calm" and flip the letters A and L to get "clam.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘calm’.
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steffany(grade 2)
accident, agree, arrive, astronomy, attention, award, aware, balance, banner, bare, base, beach and 127 more...
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jackgrade2
accident, agree, arrive, astronomy, atlas, attention, award, aware, balance, banner, bare, base and 127 more...
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Describing People
eye, hair, mouth, nose, tooth, head, face, arm, hand, finger, lip, leg and 212 more...
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RBC: Adjectives for Henry's Ma
Our class list of adjectives for Henry's Ma.
determined, cautious, disappointed, uncertain, wise, stubborn, passionate, unsupportive, forgiving, firm, honest, dishonest and 36 more...
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Stuffie: Deathly pale
I couldn't delete this list, so let's turn it into a stuffie of sorts. I'm thinking of idioms that include the word dead.
weight, pan, ahead, night of the living, on my feet, serious, man's curve, of the night, quiet, battery, fish, link and 6 more...
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soby's list
words and phrases that make me wanna weep...kinda.
fade to grey, calm, love personified, kind of girl, little, lickle, depth, honor, inferior, faust, circles, tremulance and 8 more...
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Neoclassicism
Words to describe Neoclassicism
democracy, sober, instructing, egalitarian, rational, thinker, balance, order, organized, idealistic, serious, intellectual and 36 more...
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Nom de Guerre Finder
You've taken all the other quizzes--you've already used the name of your first pet and you're tired of having to use the name of the first street where you lived. Now it's time to find your excitin...
odyssey, dawn, desert, storm, noble, eagle, shield, freedom, enduring, swift, sharp, edge and 50 more...
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Grade 2
accident, agree, arrive, astronomy, atlas, ttention, ard, ware, attention, award, aware, balance and 18 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 2455 more... -
alopecia
i suppose, all of the words & phrases yoni wolf uses in alopecia, that i love.
ladies man, landmine, cavalier, consumer grade video, single's bingo, all-time gringo, calculated birth, manila envelope, mortaring, houdini, punchline, circus mirrors and 160 more...
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The Most Beautiful Words in the Engli...
mellifluous, obscure, star-crossed, undulating, solstice, messiah, audacious, solace, twilight, wanderlust, lovelorn, byzantine and 219 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Descriptive
The present, the future. Goals, wishes, hopes.
capricious, sericeous, sleek, flawless, charming, skilled, long-haired, versatile, beautiful, witty, fair, thin and 145 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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#1
Words I Like
abide, sashay, microbial, scented, nature, amorphous, unknown, imagine, photogenic, soft, silken, history and 188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for calm.

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