What does ‘the calm before the storm’ mean?
To “the calm before the storm” means to a peaceful interval before trouble. The phrase is old and proverbial in seafaring English; Brewer's records it without fixing a single origin.
Origin
- The phrase is old and proverbial in seafaring English; Brewer's records it without fixing a single origin.
How to use it
- Common in politics, business, and personal life.
- Example: The office was quiet — the calm before the storm of quarter-end.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.