Gloss · Words · Halcyon

halcyon

ˈhælsiənadjective

What does halcyon mean?

Calm, happy, and remembered as golden; usually said of a time in the past.

Halcyon, six ways

PlainCalm, happy, and remembered as golden; usually said of a time in the past.
ADHDThe golden days. Calm, happy, long gone.
Gen ZThat peak era you look back on. The summer everything was easy.
MetaphorA still sea at midwinter, the one week the storms hold off.
FormalDenoting a period of the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.
Like I’m 5A time that was calm and happy, like the best summer ever. That’s halcyon.

How to pronounce halcyon

HAL-see-un/ˈhælsiən/

Halcyon in a sentence

Those were the halcyon days of the little bookshop.
The band’s halcyon years were spent in a rented van.
We remember the halcyon summers of childhood.

Synonyms for halcyon

goldenPlainer; close.
idyllicPicture-perfect, not always past.
peacefulCalm, without the glow of memory.

Where halcyon comes from

Greek. Alkyōn, a kingfisher. In the myth, Alcyone became a kingfisher that nested on a calm sea in midwinter, and the quiet days were named for her.

Good to know

From a mythical bird said to calm the sea while it nested. Nearly always used as halcyon days, looking back.

Halcyon meaning, on a Gloss card: Calm, happy, and remembered as golden; usually said of a time in the past.

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Halcyon on one card: what it means, how to say it, and a sentence. Keep it, or pin it for later.

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In: Beautiful words · Words for time · Words with a story