placidly
Americanadverb
-
in a calm or peaceful manner; tranquilly.
The mural brings to life a world where mammoths still embark on ancient migrations, where giant ground sloths browse placidly, where saber-toothed tigers stalk their prey.
-
in a way that shows a lack of energy or concern.
After playing fairly placidly in the first quarter and ending down three goals, the girls entered the second quarter with stronger, more dynamic play.
Usage
What does placidly mean? Placidly means in a way that is placid—calm, peaceful, or quiet. Placid is used to describe things that have a calm appearance or a calm nature, such as a placid pond whose surface is perfectly still. When placid is used to describe people, it can mean that they’re very calm and even-tempered. However, placid can also mean showing a lack of energy or concern. Saying that a person is acting placidly in this way is often done to criticize them for not caring enough to take action in a situation that calls for action to be taken, as in You shouldn’t accept defeat so placidly. Example: Rex is the calmest dog I’ve ever had—he acts so placidly, even around strangers.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of placidly
Explanation
Something done placidly happens in a calm manner. You floated placidly, blissfully unaware of the rapids just downstream. I hope you brought your life jacket! The word placidly is the adverb form of placid, which means "quiet and serene." Some words don't change much through their evolution. So it is with placidly, which finds its origin in the Latin placidus which means — what else? — calm and gentle. We can see the word’s meaning in the opening of the poem “Desiderata,” by Max Ehrmann: "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence."
Vocabulary lists containing placidly
The Giver
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The Crucible
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"Marigolds"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Placidly in the rectory remained the picketee: Vulcan's Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Simon Borkowski.
From Time Magazine Archive
Placidly Judge Buffington read a passage from the Bible, made a little speech welcoming young Judge Biggs as a helper to "four old men."
From Time Magazine Archive
Placidly ignoring the storms such paintings raise, Artist Wood lives in Iowa City in an old red-brick house remodeled by himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
Placidly bitter reminiscences of his "too happy and too comfortable" pre-War New England boyhood, by an ex-Embassy attache, political commentator, mystery writer, whose known pseudonyms are Jay Franklin, John Carter.
From Time Magazine Archive
Your grace has seen How, when a storm arises, the dark cloud, Pregnant with thunder, scowls upon the meadow Placidly fair, where still the gay beam lingers, Before its vengeance bursts.
From Joan of Arc A Play in Five Acts by Sargant, Jane Alice
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
