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SERENITY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A disposition free from stress or emotion
Synonyms:
placidity; quiet; repose; serenity; tranquility; tranquillity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("serenity" is a kind of...):
calm; calmness; composure; equanimity (steadiness of mind under stress)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "serenity"):
ataraxia (peace of mind)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The absence of mental stress or anxiety
Synonyms:
ataraxis; heartsease; peace; peace of mind; peacefulness; repose; serenity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("serenity" is a kind of...):
quietness; quietude; tranquility; tranquillity (a state of peace and quiet)
Context examples:
I turn my head, and see it, in its beautiful serenity, beside me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
It was a beautiful evening, mild and still, and the drive was as pleasant as the serenity of Nature could make it; but when Mrs. Norris ceased speaking, it was altogether a silent drive to those within.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
But in all, and in almost every line of each, there was a want of that cheerfulness which had been used to characterise her style, and which, proceeding from the serenity of a mind at ease with itself and kindly disposed towards everyone, had been scarcely ever clouded.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Miss Temple had always something of serenity in her air, of state in her mien, of refined propriety in her language, which precluded deviation into the ardent, the excited, the eager: something which chastened the pleasure of those who looked on her and listened to her, by a controlling sense of awe; and such was my feeling now: but as to Helen Burns, I was struck with wonder.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darling death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I remained, therefore, in a state of considerable expectation until the cloth had been removed some half an hour, and we were sitting over our decanter of wine before the fire, when the door opened, and Littimer, with his habitual serenity quite undisturbed, announced: Miss Mowcher!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Mrs. Bennet was restored to her usual querulous serenity; and, by the middle of June, Kitty was so much recovered as to be able to enter Meryton without tears; an event of such happy promise as to make Elizabeth hope that by the following Christmas she might be so tolerably reasonable as not to mention an officer above once a day, unless, by some cruel and malicious arrangement at the War Office, another regiment should be quartered in Meryton.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Zealous in his ministerial labours, blameless in his life and habits, he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity, that inward content, which should be the reward of every sincere Christian and practical philanthropist.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
All at once, in this serenity, great Nature spoke to me; and soothed me to lay down my weary head upon the grass, and weep as I had not wept yet, since Dora died!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
A fair hand was stretched forth to me from the window; and the face I had never seen without a feeling of serenity and happiness, from the moment when it first turned back on the old oak staircase with the great broad balustrade, and when I associated its softened beauty with the stained-glass window in the church, was smiling on me.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
