PLACIDLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does placidly mean? 

• PLACIDLY (adverb)
  The adverb PLACIDLY has 2 senses:

1. in a quiet and tranquil manner

2. in a placid and good-natured manner

  Familiarity information: PLACIDLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLACIDLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a quiet and tranquil manner

Context example:

the sea now shimmered placidly before our eyes

Pertainym:

placid ((of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a placid and good-natured manner

Context example:

I put the questions, and she answered them placidly

Pertainym:

placid (not easily irritated)

 Context examples 

Mr. March strolled placidly about, quoting Tusser, Cowley, and Columella to Mr. Laurence, while enjoying...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“No,” replied her friend very placidly, “I know you never mind dirt.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Sure enough, there were two men just outside the stockade, one of them waving a white cloth, the other, no less a person than Silver himself, standing placidly by.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He was asleep on his back and breathing as placidly as a woman.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He was easily secured, and, to my surprise, went with the attendants quite placidly, simply repeating over and over again: "The blood is the life! The blood is the life!"

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He sat placidly perusing the newspaper, with his little head on one side, and a glass of warm sherry negus at his elbow.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It was a groove that bridged the Atlantic with uneventfulness, so that the ship was not a ship in the midst of the sea, but a capacious, many-corridored hotel that moved swiftly and placidly, crushing the waves into submission with its colossal bulk until the sea was a mill-pond, monotonous with quietude.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Mrs. Allen did all that she could do in such a case by saying very placidly, every now and then, “I wish you could dance, my dear—I wish you could get a partner.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

When John came down at last, expecting to find a pensive or reproachful wife, he was agreeably surprised to find Meg placidly trimming a bonnet, and to be greeted with the request to read something about the election, if he was not too tired.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)