what word means........

[hypatia_]

I'm looking for a word that combines two distinct things: calm yet fierce. Tranquil yet passionate. Any ideas?

PS. Feel free to use this thread to learn new words as well!

[Hwo Thumb]

Stern.

"Don't do that." He said sternly.

Or firm. That works too, but I like stern better.

[hypatia_]

close, but i'm thinking more, ferocious tiger sitting intently. i don't think stern gives that sort of vibe.

i guess the key is that the adjective describes the potential for violence but an amusement in deciding not to.

[kelby_lake]

Simmering?

[luhsun]

If it is a king or dictator..smirk or sneer would convey a tranquil self-reassured ozymandias looking down on the mere mighty ones

[JBI]

Composed.

[mona amon]

Bottled up?

Reined in?

Doesn't really work for tigers, though...

[kev67]

Fell.

[qimissung]

Focused. I'm not sure one can capture calm yet fierce in just one word.

[MorpheusSandman]

Invent a new word. Preferably like Joyce in combining two existing words, a portmanteau.

[mal4mac]

"Burning"? Thinking of Blake's tiger: "burning bright in the forests of the night". But "forests of the night" is really needed to give an impression of calm power. Maybe "dread"? Also in the poem:

http://www.bartleby.com/101/489.html

What about "stalking", a stalking tiger is scary & passionate for a kill, but also calm and tranquil .

Other possibilities - "Energised", like a battery that's calm, but ready to unleash a fearsome energy.
"cocked"
"at-the-ready"

[AuntShecky]

An idiom, like "doing a slow burn."

[Nick Capozzoli]

"intense/intent," "poised," "fixed," or stuff like that?

[Snowqueen]

Equanimity?

[mona amon]

Deceptive calm?

[mal4mac]

I don't think "deceptive calm" is quite right. I think the tiger *is* calm, there is no deception: "calm before the storm"?

A "slow burn"? On a "lighted fuse", maybe. "Equanimity on a tipping point"?

What about military metaphors? "Soldiers at ease".

What about "smouldering"? A "smouldering fire" is calm, but has a potential to become fierce - also "smouldering passions" is a stock phrase in romances!

Can you be calm and fierce at *exactly* the same time? Sounds like Eastern martial arts. the term "Kung Fu" originally referred to any practice requiring patience and energy, "Wu Wei" refers to the “Action of non-action.”

[hypatia_]

mal4mac, I think you're right when you talk about deception. Deceptively calm is so close, but deceptive implies deceit, and the tiger is clearly calm.


I think equanimity, focus, and composed are the closest you can get in one word. And a lot of the idioms mentioned make sense. But I really am not sure there is a word in the English language for this exact feeling. Perhaps in another language there is?

[Calidore]

I don't know if this helps, but I think there are two different ways this can be looked at: Is the character calm now and building up pressure, or is he already pressurized and forcing calm over it? What state is he moving toward?

[hypatia_]

i think pressure is an interesting way to look at it, but in my mind this is a very relaxed state, where no pressure would be existing.

[Nick Capozzoli]

Maybe this poem by Dickinson will help get at the words the OP was looking for:

The difference between Despair
And Fear -- is like the One
Between the instant of a Wreck
And when the Wreck has been --

The Mind is smooth -- no Motion --
Contented as the Eye
Upon the Forehead of a Bust --
That knows -- it cannot see --

[hypatia_]

That is an interesting poem Nick, but I still think there are some differences.

Emily is saying the mind is calm because it understands it cannot see. Whereas with the tiger, I think it is calm DESPITE the fact that it can "see," where "seeing" is the ability to make a decision about whether to use the fierceness inside him. The mind and tiger would be the same to me IF the mind could see but still chose not to.

But I could be wrong! What do you think?