Stillness Meaning
/ˈstɪlnəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe quality or state of being still.
nounHabitual silence or quiet; taciturnity.
Sentence Examples
The stillness of the desert overwhelmed me.
She sat in a room that was flooded with light, permeated with a deep stillness.
I find peace in the stillness of the morning light.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the desert night was broken by a distant howl.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The eerie ____ of the abandoned house made us feel very uncomfortable as we walked through the rooms.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes (“stillness, quiet; absence of noise or disturbance, release, relaxation; silence, abstention from speech; absence of disturbance or molestation, tranquility, peace, security; that which appeases”), equivalent to still + -ness.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The teru-tero (Vanellus cayanensis), is another bird, which often disturbs the stillness of the night."
— 1839, Charles Darwin, Journal and remarks: 1832-1836, volume 3, page 133:
"It resembled them in the sense that it was not ended, when it was past, but continued to unfold, in Watt's head, from beginning to end, over and over again, the complex connexions of its lights and shadows, the passing from silence to sound and from sound to silence, the stillness before the movement and the stillness after, the quickenings and retardings, the approaches and the separations, all the shifting detail of its march and ordinance, according to the irrevocable caprice of its taking place."
— 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
"The grauitie, and ſtillneſſe of your youth / The world hath noted."
— c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 320:
"Like a heartbeat drives you mad / In the stillness of remembering what you had / And what you lost"
— 1977, Stevie Nicks, “Dreams”, in Rumours, performed by Fleetwood Mac:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of the desert night was broken by a distant howl.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The eerie ____ of the abandoned house made us feel very uncomfortable as we walked through the rooms.