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Antonyms for halcyon

Grammar : Adj
Spell : hal-see-uhn
Phonetic Transcription : ˈhæl si ən

Definition of halcyon

Origin :
  • 1540s, in halcyon dayes (Latin alcyonei dies, Greek alkyonides hemerai), 14 days of calm weather at the winter solstice, when a mythical bird (identified with the kingfisher) was said to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. From halcyon (n.), late 14c., from Latin halcyon, from Greek halkyon, variant (perhaps a misspelling) of alkyon "kingfisher," from hals "sea, salt" (see halo-) + kyon "conceiving," present participle of kyein "to conceive," literally "to swell," from PIE root *keue- "to swell." Identified in mythology with Halcyone, daughter of Aeolus, who when widowed threw herself into the sea and became a kingfisher.
  • adj calm, peaceful
Example sentences :
  • So it is that seamen love these birds and look for halcyon weather.
  • Extract from : « Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew » by Josephine Preston Peabody
  • Since I have mentioned the Halcyon, I shall here describe it.
  • Extract from : « The History of Louisiana » by Le Page Du Pratz
  • It was a new and halcyon vision of the way to spend one's declining years.
  • Extract from : « The Market-Place » by Harold Frederic
  • The sea is calm, and the halcyon broods, and only love is eternal.
  • Extract from : « The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 86, December, 1864 » by Various
  • The days went by, days that were halcyon under love's own sunshine.
  • Extract from : « Cruel Barbara Allen » by David Christie Murray
  • And to those days of calm and sunshine, the name of the Halcyon Days was given.
  • Extract from : « A Book of Myths » by Jean Lang
  • But these halcyon times are of the past—and so, verily, are their heroes.
  • Extract from : « The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper » by Martin Farquhar Tupper
  • But those were the halcyon days of cavalry life, not the typical.
  • Extract from : « Under Fire » by Charles King
  • Those were the halcyon days of the dime museum, and there was one at Cincinnati.
  • Extract from : « American Men of Mind » by Burton E. Stevenson
  • Out of sight of land we picked up the Halcyon, and Burnley and I went aboard.
  • Extract from : « The House of Pride » by Jack London

Synonyms for halcyon

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019