Still waters run deep

1. A person's calm exterior often conceals great depths of character, just as the deepest streams can have the smoothest surfaces.

Idioms and Phrases

A quiet person may be very profound, as in Susie rarely says much, but still waters run deep . The physical observation in this term dates from ancient times, but it has been used figuratively since about 1400. Anthony Trollope amplified it in He Knew He Was Right (1869): “That's what I call still water. She runs deep enough. . . . So quiet, but so—clever.”

Example Sentences

She is one of those characters, of whom it has been said proverbially, that "still waters run deep."

From Project Gutenberg

"Still waters run deep," they said, and all those to whom they said it nodded in a wise acquiescence.

From Project Gutenberg

Still waters run deep, say the English, and the Italians, Still waters ruin bridges.

From Project Gutenberg

Yes, and there is another old proverb and one much more to the purpose that says, “Still waters run deep.”

From Project Gutenberg

We sometimes hear it said of a person who is very quiet and does not speak much that "still waters run deep."

From Project Gutenberg