calm down

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"calm-down" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“calm down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To become less excited, intense, or angry.

Corpus desk

Index EN-calm-down · calm down · English

calm down · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for calm down
PropertyValue
Headwordcalm down
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “calm down” sits in English frequency

calm downsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

calm down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for calm down in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is calm down, spelled C-A-L-M- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To become less excited, intense, or angry.
  2. 2
    To cause to become less excited, intense, or angry.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how calm down appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Calm down before you hurt somebody.

Synonyms

be still my heartchillchill outchillaxpull in one's hornsrelaxunwindchill outrelaxhose downcool one's jetsslow one's roll

This word in other languages

calmarse(Español)se calmer(Français)beruhigen(Deutsch)acalmar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "calm down"?
"calm down" is spelled C-A-L-M- -D-O-W-N.
What does "calm down" mean?
As a verb, "calm down" means: To become less excited, intense, or angry.
What language does "calm down" come from?
"calm down" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

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Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list