stilly

comparative stillier · superlative stilliest

1. silent; calm

   Long was the darkness, Lonely and stilly.

   1879, Anthony Trollope, Thackeray

   4 more examples

   The stilly murmur of the distant Sea Tells us of silence.

   1795, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Eolian Harp, lines 11–12

   The dead--in holy, stilly peace, the sacred dead repose, Afar from earth's turmoil and grief, and all of sick'ning woes; From racking pain, and withering pride, and avarice's care, Secure they rest in solitude, unaw'd by sin or snare.

   1828, Various, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12,

   Crickets sang of nights in the stilly cabins, and in the sunshine mosquitoes crept from out hollow logs […].

   1902, Jack London, A Daughter of the Snows

   […] Marjorie used Central to call as many of her neighbors that were also on the exchange as she could, telling them of the disaster which had fallen like a lightning-stroke out of a clear sky, knowing that each call would produce overlapping ripples, like pebbles tossed rapidly into a stilly pond.

   1996, Stephen King, chapter 4, in The Green Mile, Pocket Books edition

comparative more stilly · superlative most stilly

1. While still and calm.

   She passed away very stilly and painlessly.

   1868, George A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone;

   2 more examples

   The river, too, was colored, and every tree was like a torch burning stilly in the quiet of the evening.

   1902, Mary Johnston, Audrey

   When she arrived at the white boat which floated so stilly on the morning glitter of the water, only just stirred by a breeze from the south, she stepped at once on board.

   1921, S.R. Crockett, Bog-Myrtle and Peat