calm before the storm
4
3.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
la calma antes de la tormenta
- Calm before the storm.
- always a calm before the storm
It's actually potentially just the calm before the storm and that the worst is yet to come.
- It's actually potentially just the calm before the storm and that the worst is yet to come.
Examples
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And if rapid change is not forthcoming, today's relatively calm protests could be seen as the calm before the storm.
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This is just the calm before the storm.
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Right here we all stand, the calm before the storm of battle.
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It's just the calm before the storm
-
The calm before the storm.
Fiction book (1993) -
The calm before the storm, so to speak.
Blog text (9) -
This was basically the calm before the storm.
Blog text (18) -
It was the calm before the storm.
Fiction book (2000) -
It felt to him like the calm before the storm, and he kept waiting for the storm to hit.
Fiction book (1991) -
The park was peaceful today, but it felt like the calm before the storm as dark clouds gathered overhead.
Synonyms
52
1.0
A quiet, peaceful feeling that helps you stay steady
49
4.0
A calm, peaceful state with no noise or worry
43
1.0
A calm time or place with little noise
4
2.7
A calm, quiet feeling with no worry
A time of peace after fighting or trouble
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'calm' (quiet) with 'before the storm' (prior to a violent event), so its meaning as a period of quiet preceding something intense is directly inferable from the constituents. This metaphorical extension to any impending trouble is common across languages and everyday discourse, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
The phrase calm before the storm comes from people watching the weather. They noticed a very quiet time, the calm, right before a big storm, and that image is why we now use it to mean 'a period of quiet before something intense'.