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Glite Dictionary
eerily silent

eerily silent

1 6.7
Strangely quiet in a way that makes you feel scared
  • adjective
translation icon : extrañamente silencioso
  • In the aftermath of the evacuation, the city was eerily silent, amplifying the tension in the air.
  • goes eerily silent

Examples

  • The compartment was eerily silent.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The apartment was eerily silent.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The room was eerily silent.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The night was eerily silent.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • My house is eerily silent right now.

    Blog text (28)

  • Once busy streets are eerily silent as many have fled.

    The Siege (1998)

  • It was eerily silent, still as a forest hushed by a snowfall.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The abandoned house was eerily silent, creating an unsettling atmosphere for those who dared to enter.

  • After the storm passed, the once lively beach became eerily silent, with only the sound of distant waves breaking the stillness.

Synonyms

eerie
vseerily silent
91 5.1

A strange, frightening feeling as if ghosts are nearby

is about unsettling silence that causes fear rather than general strangeness
eery
vseerily silent
  • UK
6.7

Strange in a way that makes you feel afraid or uneasy

focuses on quiet that makes people uneasy rather than general mysteriousness

Antonyms

noisy
125 1.0

Full of loud, unpleasant sounds

lively
111 1.3

Having a lot of energy and enthusiasm

How Silent

soundless
4 4.0
silent
257 1.0
eerily silent
1 6.7
hushed
22 4.1
quiet
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

eerily silent positive

Morphology

eerily + silent

The meaning is directly compositional: 'eerily' (in an unsettling or creepy way) modifies 'silent' (quiet), yielding 'strangely or unsettlingly quiet.' This adverb + adjective pattern is a regular, transparent combination and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Eerily silent comes from the picture of a place where all the usual sounds stop, like no birds or traffic, so the quiet feels strange and a little scary. So when we say eerily silent, or its parts eerily and silent, we mean 'strangely quiet' or 'so quiet it makes you feel uneasy'.