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PlainSpell

calm

/kɑm/adjective, noun, verb

calm is spelled C-A-L-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, calm means “Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in calm?

Letters4: C-A-L-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is calm?

Calm appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce calm?

  • US /kɑm/
  • US /kɑlm/
  • US /kɔm/

Calm has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-calm.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with calm?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as calm from its last stressed vowel (/ɑm/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: clam.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of calm

  • calmer comparative
  • more calm comparative
  • calmest superlative
  • most calm superlative
  • calms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • calming participle, present
  • calmed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does calm mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety.

  2. 2

    Free of noise and disturbance.

  3. 3

    with few or no waves on the surface; not rippled.

  4. 4

    Without wind or storm.

  5. 5

    slangGood; alright; cool; OK.

noun

  1. 1

    The state of being calm; peacefulness; absence of worry, anger, fear or other strong negative emotion.

  2. 2

    The state of being calm; absence of noise and disturbance.

  3. 3

    The absence of wind; a period of time without wind.

verb

  1. 1

    To make calm.

    to calm a crying baby

  2. 2

    To become calm.

noun

as CALM
  1. 1

    Initialism of café au lait macule.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Calm in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcalme (free from anger and anxiety), tranquille (free of noise and disturbance), calme plat (period without wind), calmer, apaiser (to make calm)
Germanruhig (free from anger and anxiety), Windstille (period without wind), beruhigen, ruhig stellen (to make calm), windstill (without wind or storm), Ruhe (the state with absence of noise and disturbance)
Portuguesetranquilo, calmo, sossegado (free from anger and anxiety), tranquilidade, sossego (the state with absence of noise and disturbance), calma (condition of being unworried and free from anger)
Spanishcalmado, surto, calmo, calmoso (free from anger and anxiety), sosiego (condition of being unworried and free from anger), glaxo ((of water) with few or no waves on the surface)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does calm come from?

From Middle English calm, calme, from Middle French calme, probably from Old Italian calma, of uncertain origin. Calma may derive from Late Latin cauma (“heat of the midday sun”), from Ancient Greek καῦμα (kaûma, “heat, especially of the sun”), from καίω (kaíō, “to burn”), or possibly from Latin caleō. Compare also Lombardic *chalm, *chalma (“frozenness”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kalmaz (“frozenness, cold”). Displaced native Middle English smilte (“quiet, still, gentle”) from Old English smylte (“quiet, tranquil, calm, serene”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after calm