calm before the storm
A period of peace before a disturbance or crisis; an unnatural or false calm before a storm.
The meeting may be peaceful now, but this is only the calm before the storm.
VERBS
appear, be, feel, look, seem, sound
She looked calm during the presentation, but her hands were shaking.
become
keep, remain, stay
During the emergency, the teacher stayed calm and helped all the children evacuate safely.
keep sb
The teacher tried to keep the students calm during the fire drill.
ADV
extremely, remarkably, very
She remained extremely calm during the emergency and helped everyone escape safely.
completely, perfectly, utterly
Even during the emergency, the nurse remained completely calm and reassured the worried patient.
fairly, pretty, quite | apparently, outwardly
curiously, strangely
She remained strangely calm when the fire alarm suddenly went off in the office.
reassuringly
The nurse spoke in a reassuringly calm manner while explaining the medical procedure.
PREP
about
He wasn't calm about losing his job, so he spent the whole evening worrying.
PHRASES
cool, calm and collected
Even during the emergency, the nurse stayed cool, calm and collected while helping the patients.
VERBS
be, look | become
ADV
absolutely, dead, flat, perfectly
The lake was perfectly calm this morning, so we decided to go kayaking.
fairly, quite, relatively
ADJ
apparent
Despite her apparent calm during the job interview, she was actually very nervous inside.
inner
She found inner calm through daily meditation and breathing exercises.
uneasy
forced, studied
She took a deep breath and spoke with studied calm, even though her hands were shaking.
dead
The house fell into a dead calm after the storm passed through the neighborhood.
deadly, icy
She walked out of the burning building with icy calm, helping others escape despite her own fear.
VERB + CALM
appeal for, call for
The principal called for calm when students started panicking about the exam results.
CALM + VERB
descend, settle
A peaceful calm descended over the noisy classroom once the teacher began reading the story.
PHRASES
a period of calm
ADJ
dead, flat
The sea was completely dead calm on the morning we went out fishing.