peaceful

English

Alternative forms

• peacefull (archaic)

Etymology 1

From Middle English peesful, pesful, paisful, pesefull, equivalent to peace +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːsfəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: peace‧ful

Adjective

peaceful (comparative more peaceful or peacefuller or peacefuler, superlative most peaceful or peacefullest or peacefulest)

1. Not at war; not disturbed by strife or turmoil.

   Antonyms: warring, at war

   peaceful protest

   • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. […] One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

3. Inclined to peace.

   Synonyms: peaceable, pacific

   Antonyms: belligerent, violent

4. Motionless and calm.

   Synonyms: tranquil, placid, still

Derived terms

• nonpeaceful
• peaceful coexistence
• peaceful dove
• peacefully
• peacefulness
• unpeaceful

 

Translations

not at war or disturbed by strife or turmoil

• Afrikaans: vreedsaam
• Arabic: سِلْمِيّ (silmiyy)
• Armenian: խաղաղ (hy) (xaġaġ)
• Azerbaijani: dinc (az)
• Belarusian: спако́йны (be) (spakójny), мі́рны (mírny), ці́хі (be) (cíxi)
• Bulgarian: ми́рен (bg) (míren), споко́ен (bg) (spokóen), тих (bg) (tih)
• Catalan: pacífic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平安 (zh) (píng'ān)

• Czech: pokojný (cs)
• Dutch: vredevol (nl), vredig (nl), vreedzaam (nl)
• Esperanto: paca (eo)
• Finnish: rauhallinen (fi), rauhanomainen
• French: paisible (fr)
• Galician: pacífico (gl) m
• Georgian: მშვიდობიანი (mšvidobiani)
• German: friedlich (de)
• Hebrew: שָׁקֵט (he)
• Hindi: शांत (hi) (śānt)
• Hungarian: békés (hu)
• Ingrian: sopulikas
• Irish: suaimhneach
• Italian: pacifico (it)
• Japanese: 平和な (ja) (heiwa na)
• Korean: 평화롭다 (ko) (pyeonghwaropda)
• Latin: pācātus
• Macedonian: мирен (miren)
• Malay: damai (ms), aman (ms)
• Maori: mārie, aumārire, houkura
• Norman: paisibl'ye
• Occitan: pacific (oc)
• Old English: friþsum
• Plautdietsch: frädlich
• Polish: pokojowy (pl)
• Portuguese: pacífico (pt)
• Russian: ми́рный (ru) (mírnyj), споко́йный (ru) (spokójnyj), ти́хий (ru) (tíxij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ми́ран

  Roman: míran (sh)

• Slovak: pokojný (sk)
• Slovene: miren (sl)
• Spanish: pacífico (es)
• Turkish: barışta (tr), sulhta (obsolecent)
• Ukrainian: ми́рний (mýrnyj), спокі́йний (spokíjnyj), ти́хий (týxyj)
• Vietnamese: hòa bình (vi)
• Walloon: påjhûle (wa), påjhire (wa)
• Yiddish: שלומדיק (sholemdik)

inclined to peace; peaceable

• Arabic: مُسَالِم (musālim)
• Armenian: խաղաղասեր (hy) (xaġaġaser)
• Azerbaijani: dinc (az)
• Belarusian: мі́рны (mírny), міралюбі́вы (miraljubívy)
• Bulgarian: ми́рен (bg) (míren)
• Catalan: pacífic (ca)
• Czech: mírumilovný (cs)
• Dutch: vredig (nl), vreedzaam (nl)
• Esperanto: pacema
• Finnish: rauhallinen (fi), rauhantahtoinen
• French: paisible (fr), pacifique (fr)
• Galician: pacífico (gl) m
• Georgian: მშვიდობისმოყვარული (mšvidobismoq̇varuli)
• German: friedfertig (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (gawairþeigs)
• Hungarian: békés (hu), békeszerető (hu)
• Ingrian: sopulikas
• Irish: suaimhneach
• Japanese: 穏和な (ja) (onwa na)
• Latin: pācātus
• Macedonian: мирољубив (miroljubiv)
• Maori: mārie, aumārire, houkura
• Norman: paisibl'ye
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: fredelig (no)

• Plautdietsch: frädlich
• Polish: bezkonfliktowy (pl)
• Portuguese: pacífico (pt)
• Romanian: pașnic (ro)
• Russian: ми́рный (ru) (mírnyj), миролюби́вый (ru) (miroljubívyj)
• Turkish: uysal (tr), yumuşak başlı (tr)
• Ukrainian: ми́рний (mýrnyj), миролю́бний (myroljúbnyj)
• Walloon: påjhûle (wa), påjhire (wa)

motionless and calm; placid

• Armenian: խաղաղ (hy) (xaġaġ), հանդարտ (hy) (handart), հանգիստ (hy) (hangist)
• Azerbaijani: dinc (az), sakit (az)
• Bulgarian: спокоен (bg) (spokoen)
• Catalan: assossegat (ca)
• Czech: klidný (cs)
• Dutch: vredig (nl)
• Esperanto: paca (eo)
• Finnish: rauhallinen (fi)
• French: placide (fr), calme (fr)
• Galician: calmo m
• German: friedlich (de)
• Hebrew: שָׁלֵו (he), שָׁקֵט (he)
• Ingrian: rauhalliin, rauhain
• Irish: sámh
• Italian: calmo (it)
• Japanese: 平穏な (ja) (heion na), 平静な (ja) (heisei na)
• Korean: 평화롭다 (ko) (pyeonghwaropda)
• Macedonian: мирен (miren)
• Maori: whakaaio
• Ossetian: ӕнцад (æncad)
• Ottoman Turkish: دولك (dölek)
• Plautdietsch: stell, frädlich
• Polish: spokojny (pl)
• Portuguese: calmo (pt), tranquilo (pt)
• Russian: ми́рный (ru) (mírnyj), споко́йный (ru) (spokójnyj), ти́хий (ru) (tíxij)
• Scottish Gaelic: foiseil, suaimhneach
• Spanish: tranquilo (es), plácido (es)
• Turkish: huzurlu (tr), sakin (tr)
• Tuvaluan: filemu
• Walloon: påjhûle (wa), påjhire (wa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} friedlich (de)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} pacifico (it), ^{(please verify)} placido (it), ^{(please verify)} tranquillo (it)

See also

• (inclined to peace): irenic
• (calm, tranquil): idyllic

Etymology 2

Derived from the derogatory term religion of peace, which is used against Islam itself for its association with violent attacks by Islamic extremists, and alleged support and lack of condemnation against them by certain Muslim communities.

Noun

peaceful (plural peacefuls)

1. (India, Islam, Islamophobic, Internet slang, offensive) a Muslim; especially a violent member of a radical Islamist group.
   • 2021, Raghu Karnad, The Wire‎^[1]:

     They only have to use a bit of code to name those people; nowadays they call them “peacefuls”. A smirking euphemism is all it takes to sail through Twitter’s filter, and keep the hate-speech flowing.

See also

• namazi
• peace-loving community (sarcastic, derogatory)
• pissful (slang, vulgar, derogatory)
• minority, M (online slang, derogatory)