Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PLACID
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pronounce
PLACID:
Say it "PLASS id."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
If you're old enough to have heard of the 1999 horror movie Lake Placid, then you, too, may have giggled endlessly over the title's not-so-subtle irony:
Yeah, that lake doesn't exactly look placid. Looks like a lot of thrashing will be involved.
Our word placid traces back to the Latin placare, "to calm, to soothe." So does our other word, plac___, meaning "to calm people down, to make them less angry." Can you recall that one?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
You can trace the word "placid" back to the Latin placidus, meaning "calm, quiet, or peaceful," and further back to placare, meaning "to calm, to quiet, to soothe, or to please."
We've used the word "placid" in English for hundreds of years.
Placid things, and placid people, are calm, quiet, gentle, and peaceful.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "her placid face;" "The surface of the water seemed placid."
Other forms:
The adverb is "placidly."
For the noun, you can use "placidness" or, my preference, "placidity," pronounced "pluh SID ih dee."
how to use it:
Pick the formal, common word "placid" when you need to emphasize the stillness and peacefulness of some person, place, object, or situation.
Often we talk about placid faces and expressions, placid people and personalities, and placid bodies of water. We can also talk about placid music, neighborhoods, suburbs, comments and conversations, relationships, etc.
"Placid" often has a positive tone.
But, because a placid person doesn't get upset or excited easily, and because a placid face can look posed or mannequin-like, and because a placid song doesn't get anyone onto the dance floor--the word "placid" can take on a negative tone, too, and mean "bland, empty, uninspiring" in addition to "calm, peaceful, tranquil."
examples:
"Henry's placid demeanor is shattered with the right poking."
— Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue, 2019
"A flurry of fire trucks and sirens...pierced the otherwise placid gated community."
— Alexandra Stevenson and Cao Li, New York Times, 15 June 2020
has this page helped you understand "placid"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "placid" without saying "serene" or "tranquil."
try it out:
Here's a thought often attributed to Milan Kundera:
"To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."
Do you agree: do you think that placidity is peaceful? Or, is it boring? Do you think your answer depends on what kind of life you've had, or maybe what kind of day or week you've had?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Everyday Etymologies!
If you're in the habit of looking up the etymologies of everyday words (wait, you aren't?), then you find, occasionally, certain ones that strike you as particularly apt, cute, strange, or poetic. I'd like to share some of those finds with you this month. In each issue, I'll give you the etymology of an everyday word, and you supply the word. We'll start easy and move into some tougher ones as the month goes on, but every answer will be an everyday kind of word, one you've been familiar with since, say, adolescence at least. To see the answer, scroll to the bottom of the issue.
Try this one today: This three-syllable noun has Greek roots that mean "a running back." (Hint: it predates the race car but describes it perfectly.)
review this word:
A. TAUT.
B. TURBULENT.
C. TONGUE-TIED.
2. In The Guardian, Bonnie Tsui wrote, "I liked how the ocean seemed to draw breath, _____ placid one moment and _____ the next."
A. lying .. rearing up
B. swirling .. flattening out
C. crashing .. withdrawing
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
If you're old enough to have heard of the 1999 horror movie Lake Placid, then you, too, may have giggled endlessly over the title's not-so-subtle irony:
You can trace the word "placid" back to the Latin placidus, meaning "calm, quiet, or peaceful," and further back to placare, meaning "to calm, to quiet, to soothe, or to please."
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, common word "placid" when you need to emphasize the stillness and peacefulness of some person, place, object, or situation.
"Henry's placid demeanor is shattered with the right poking."
Explain the meaning of "placid" without saying "serene" or "tranquil."
Here's a thought often attributed to Milan Kundera:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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