placidity

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English

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Etymology

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From placid +‎ -ity, from Latin placiditās (mildness, placidity).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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placidity (usually uncountable, plural placidities)

  1. The state of being placid; peacefulness.
    • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume III, chapter 10:
      And how could she bear such behaviour! Composure with a witness! to look on, while repeated attentions were offering to another woman, before her face, and not resent it.—That is a degree of placidity, which I can neither comprehend nor respect.
    • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XVI, in Duty and Inclination: [], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, [], →OCLC, page 207:
      Thus, in rapid succession, passed the thoughts of Rosilia, who, endeavouring to assume placidity, once more essayed to express her thanks to Mrs. Melbourne for her kind attentions, []
    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, [], →OCLC, part I, page 200:
      The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me.

Synonyms

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Translations

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