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becalmed

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,844 of 15,258neutral

Becalmed means stopped for lack of any wind. Becalmed for days, a becalmed yacht, becalmed in the doldrums.

For sailing ships it was a serious danger rather than an inconvenience, since food and water ran down while the ship sat still. The doldrums near the equator were feared for exactly that. Figuratively a project can be becalmed — stalled with nothing to blame.

Definitions of becalmed

  1. 1adjectivebecalmedStopped for lack of any wind.C2

    “The yacht lay becalmed in the middle of the bay, its sails hanging limp.”

becalmed is a state of stillness.

Where it comes from

becalm comes from be- + calm.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sea & Sailing

Practise this word

becalmed in the wild

  • Vaikundar, realizing that forbearance and fortitude were the essential virtues needed in his project of transforming the world, becalmed himself and performed the Tavam (Meditation).

    Tavam of Vaikundar

  • The first section depicts a ship becalmed, the second its success in resuming its voyage.

    Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Beethoven)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.