Meaning & use
peaceful
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Quiet and calm, without noise, worry or disturbance.
Grammar: Before a noun or after be: a peaceful garden; the lake was peaceful.
The village is peaceful at night.
She had a peaceful afternoon reading by the river.
He fell into a peaceful sleep.
adjectivecomparable
Without violence or war, or preferring not to use force.
Grammar: Often before nouns like protest or solution.
Thousands joined a peaceful protest in the square.
Both sides hope for a peaceful settlement.
Word forms
| comparative | more peaceful |
|---|---|
| superlative | most peaceful |
Common combinations
- peaceful protest
- The march was a peaceful protest.
- peaceful coexistence
- The two groups live in peaceful coexistence.
- peaceful resolution
- A peaceful resolution is still possible.
- peaceful place
- It is a peaceful place to rest.
- peaceful transfer of power
- The country had a peaceful transfer of power.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tranquil
- More literary and suggests deep stillness.
- calm
- Can describe weather or a person, not only a place.
- serene
- Suggests peaceful in an elegant, untroubled way.
- quiet
- Focuses on lack of noise, not lack of conflict.
Opposites
Word family
- peace noun
- freedom from war or noise
- peacefully adverb
- in a calm way
- peacefulness noun
- the state of being calm
Commonly confused: peaceful or peaceable?
peaceful vs peaceable
Peaceable describes people who like to avoid conflict; peaceful describes places, times and actions.
Practice
After a stressful week, she enjoyed a ___ weekend at a quiet cabin.
Choose one answer.
Peaceful means calm and quiet, matching a quiet cabin. The others have negative meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “peaceful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.