placidity

American  

[pluh-sid-i-tee] / pləˈsɪd ɪ ti /

Also placidness

noun

1. a calm or peaceful quality; tranquility; serenity.

   It’s not uncommon for visitors to regard the placidity of Canada’s Peyto Lake as a spiritual experience.

2. lack of interest or proper concern, energy, or action; complacency or apathy.

   In a society that mistakes placidity for gentleness, I think we need spaces to explore, develop, and harness righteous anger.

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Other Word Forms

• unplacidness noun

Etymology

Origin of placidity

First recorded in 1610–20; placid ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Example Sentences

But, as in “Men,” Kinnear’s appearance of placidity makes his characters’ nefarious tendencies even more chilling; his ability to draw his mouth into a grim implacable line is second to none.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2024

What might have been striking about Saturday was its placidity, especially in a month not famed for meteorological serenity.

From Washington Post • Dec. 4, 2021

I wouldn’t say serenity, I would say placidity about that time.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2021

With all the dire warnings, the general seemed to be losing patience with his countrymen’s trademark placidity.

From Washington Times • Nov. 5, 2020

The cows gazed at him with a sort of threatening idiotic placidity; the horses peered down their long snouts like curious, intelligent gods.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols