Meaning & use
calming influence
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person or thing that makes a tense situation or an upset person feel quieter and more relaxed.
Grammar: Usually used with 'a' or 'the': She is a calming influence on the team.
Patterns
- a calming influence on someone
- be a calming influence
Her steady voice was a calming influence on everyone in the room.
The teacher's calm manner had a calming influence on the noisy class.
Many parents find that soft music is a calming influence at bedtime.
Word forms
| plural | calming influences |
|---|
Common combinations
- a calming influence on someone
- The older boy was a calming influence on the younger children.
- have a calming influence
- The new manager had a calming influence on the whole department.
- prove a calming influence
- Her experience proved a calming influence during the crisis.
- a calming influence in a situation
- He was a calming influence in a very tense meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- steadying influence
- This focuses on keeping someone or something from becoming unstable, rather than on making people feel relaxed.
- soothing presence
- This is more about the physical effect of a person's company, and it is less common in formal writing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: calming influence or calming effect?
calming influence vs calming effect
'Calming effect' describes the result of something, while 'calming influence' usually refers to a person or thing that produces that result.
Practice
The grandfather was a calming influence ___ the whole family during the argument.
Choose one answer.
'A calming influence on someone' is the standard pattern. 'For' can sometimes appear, but 'on' is the natural choice here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “calming influence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.