stillness

noun

still·​ness

plural -es

1

a

: freedom from agitation : calmness, serenity

brings with her beauty … a capacity for stillness and repose

—E. R. Bentley

b

: absence of movement : immobility, lifelessness

the stillness is so absolute that it seems as if all the winds of the world had … dropped out of the air

—J. C. Powys

2

a

: the quality or state of being soundless : quiet, silence

knew by the stillness and the tenseness that we had reached the outer fringe of the front

—Burgess Scott

b

: a soundless place or environment

polar bears roam the great white stillnesses

3

obsolete : patience, fortitude

in peace … nothing so becomes a man, as modest stillness

—Shakespeare

Word History

Etymology

Middle English stilnesse, from Old English stilnes, from stille, adjective, still + -nes -ness

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Rhymes for stillness

• illness