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PEACEFUL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not disturbed by strife or turmoil or war
Example:
peaceful sleep
Synonyms:
peaceable; peaceful
Classified under:
Similar:
halcyon (idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity)
irenic (conducive to peace)
nonbelligerent (not directly at war)
pacific; peaceable (disposed to peace or of a peaceful nature)
dovish; pacifist; pacifistic (opposed to war)
peace-loving; peaceable (inclined or disposed to peace)
Also:
nonaggressive; unaggressive (not aggressive; not given to fighting or assertiveness)
amicable (characterized by friendship and good will)
quiet (characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity)
nonviolent (abstaining (on principle) from the use of violence)
Antonym:
unpeaceful (not peaceful)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Peacefully resistant in response to injustice
Example:
passive resistance
Synonyms:
passive; peaceful
Classified under:
Similar:
nonviolent (abstaining (on principle) from the use of violence)
Derivation:
peacefulness (a state that is calm and tranquil)
Context examples:
Generally speaking, the autonomic nervous system regulates the internal environment during both peaceful activity and physical or emotional stress.
(Autonomic nervous system, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
This grove that was now so peaceful must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe I heard it ringing still.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
She was breathing naturally and looked so well and peaceful that we agreed that the sleep was better for her than anything else.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I should be none the worse for a quiet, peaceful day in the country, and I am inclined to run down this afternoon and test one or two theories which I have formed.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper beeches.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It had been peaceful in its occurrence, sacred in its ceremonial.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
So, is the X-ray glow that fills the sky a sign of peaceful "charge exchange" in the solar system or evidence of terrifying explosions in the distant past?
(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)
The humanities and amenities of life had no attraction for him—its peaceful enjoyments no charm.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
NuSTAR joins NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in Namibia, each with its own unique strengths, to better understand the evolution of these not-so-peaceful dead stars.
(Pulse of a Dead Star Powers Intense Gamma Rays, NASA)
I was formed for peaceful happiness.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
