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Meaning & use

calm her down

phrase·Everyday

Last updated

UK/kɑːm hɜː daʊn/
US/kɑːm hɜːr daʊn/

Meaning

  1. phrasetransitive

    To make a woman or girl feel less angry, excited, or upset, so that she becomes quiet and relaxed.

    Grammar: Takes an object; the object pronoun goes between 'calm' and 'down': calm her down. You can also say 'calm her down' with a name: calm Maria down.

    Patterns

    • calm someone down
    • calm her down

    She was crying, so I held her hand to calm her down.

    It took me half an hour to calm her down after the argument.

    The nurse spoke softly to calm her down before the injection.

Common combinations

try to calm her down
He tried to calm her down, but she kept shouting.
help calm her down
A cup of tea helped calm her down.
calm her down after
We had to calm her down after the shocking news.
manage to calm her down
Eventually, I managed to calm her down.

Synonyms and how they differ

soothe her
Soothe her means to make her feel less pain or distress; calm her down focuses more on reducing excitement or anger.
settle her down
Settle her down is similar but often means to help her become quiet and ready to rest or sleep.
pacify her
Pacify her often means to stop her from being angry by giving in to demands; it can sound disapproving.

Opposites

agitate herexcite herupset her

Word family

calm adjective
Peaceful and quiet; not excited.
calmly adverb
In a peaceful and quiet way.
calmness noun
The state of being calm.
calm down phrasal verb
To become calm, or to make someone calm.

Commonly confused: calm her down or calm her?

calm her down vs calm her

'Calm her' is not standard English; you need the particle 'down': 'calm her down'.

Practice

She was furious about the mistake, so I tried to _______.

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