Peace is a beautiful and powerful concept that influences every part of our lives, from the quiet moments we spend alone to the relationships we build with others and even the way nations interact on a global scale. Whether it’s the gentle stillness we feel inside after a long day or the larger harmony between communities and countries, peace is something everyone hopes to experience, and it often needs the right words to be fully expressed. This is where idioms come into play, offering us colorful and creative ways to talk about peace, understanding, and calmness in ways that feel natural and relatable.
Idioms about peace are not just decorative phrases; they help us paint vivid pictures of emotions and situations, allowing us to communicate the idea of tranquility, forgiveness, or harmony in a way that simple words sometimes cannot. By learning and using these idioms, you can make your conversations richer, your writing more expressive, and your understanding of the world a little deeper, especially when it comes to sensitive and important topics like peace and resolution. In this article, you’ll explore popular idioms about peace, their meanings, examples of how to use them naturally, and even find a fun exercise at the end to help you practice and grow your vocabulary with these calming phrases.
Idioms for Peace
1. Bury the hatchet
Meaning: To make peace after an argument or conflict.
In a Sentence: After years of not speaking to each other, the two brothers finally decided to bury the hatchet and rebuild their relationship from the ground up.
Other Ways to Say: Make amends, Reconcile differences
2. Break bread
Meaning: To share a meal as a gesture of peace or friendship.
In a Sentence: Sitting down to break bread with former rivals helped ease tensions and create a genuine sense of unity among the teams.
Other Ways to Say: Share a meal, Bond over food
3. Let bygones be bygones
Meaning: To forget past disagreements and move on peacefully.
In a Sentence: Realizing that holding onto anger would only cause more pain, she chose to let bygones be bygones and started anew with her old friend.
Other Ways to Say: Forgive and forget, Move forward
4. Wave the white flag
Meaning: To surrender or admit defeat in order to achieve peace.
In a Sentence: After arguing for hours without reaching a solution, he finally waved the white flag and agreed to compromise for the sake of their friendship.
Other Ways to Say: Admit defeat, Seek a truce
5. On good terms
Meaning: Having a friendly and peaceful relationship.
In a Sentence: Even after their business partnership ended, they remained on good terms, often catching up over coffee without any hard feelings.
Other Ways to Say: Remain friends, Maintain a positive relationship
6. Mend fences
Meaning: To repair a relationship after a disagreement or conflict.
In a Sentence: After their heated debate last month, the two politicians made efforts to mend fences by collaborating on a new community project.
Other Ways to Say: Heal the relationship, Rebuild trust
7. Keep the peace
Meaning: To maintain calm and prevent conflict.
In a Sentence: During the family gathering, she bit her tongue and stayed silent about minor annoyances in order to keep the peace and ensure everyone had a good time.
Other Ways to Say: Maintain harmony, Avoid conflict
8. Extend an olive branch
Meaning: To offer a sign of peace or reconciliation.
In a Sentence: Realizing the importance of their friendship, he extended an olive branch by apologizing for his thoughtless comments.
Other Ways to Say: Offer peace, Seek reconciliation
9. Call a truce
Meaning: To agree to stop fighting or arguing.
In a Sentence: After hours of back-and-forth bickering, they both decided to call a truce and focus on finding a solution together.
Other Ways to Say: Stop fighting, Declare peace
10. A meeting of the minds
Meaning: An agreement reached through mutual understanding and compromise.
In a Sentence: After several long meetings filled with different opinions, they finally had a meeting of the minds and created a plan that satisfied everyone.
Other Ways to Say: Mutual agreement, Shared understanding
11. Smoke the peace pipe
Meaning: To settle differences and make peace.
In a Sentence: After years of competition and cold shoulders, the two companies decided it was time to smoke the peace pipe and work together for mutual benefit.
Other Ways to Say: Settle differences, Make peace
12. Make amends
Meaning: To correct a wrongdoing and restore peace.
In a Sentence: Understanding how much she had hurt her friend, she went out of her way to make amends and rebuild the trust they once shared.
Other Ways to Say: Apologize and fix, Reconcile
13. Calm before the storm
Meaning: A peaceful time right before chaos or trouble.
In a Sentence: The village was quiet and still, but everyone sensed that it was only the calm before the storm as the hurricane approached.
Other Ways to Say: Peaceful moment before trouble, Temporary stillness
14. Water under the bridge
Meaning: Past problems that are no longer important.
In a Sentence: They decided to treat their old arguments as water under the bridge, focusing instead on the bright future ahead of them.
Other Ways to Say: Forgotten issues, Letting go of the past
15. Easy does it
Meaning: A reminder to move calmly and carefully.
In a Sentence: He reminded the team to approach the negotiation with patience, repeating the phrase easy does it to encourage a peaceful and deliberate attitude.
Other Ways to Say: Take it slow, Be gentle
16. Let sleeping dogs lie
Meaning: To leave a situation alone to avoid stirring up trouble.
In a Sentence: Instead of reopening old wounds by discussing past mistakes, they wisely decided to let sleeping dogs lie and continue building a positive future.
Other Ways to Say: Leave it alone, Don’t stir trouble
17. Make peace with
Meaning: To accept something unpleasant and move forward peacefully.
In a Sentence: After months of grief, she finally made peace with her loss and found ways to cherish the good memories instead of dwelling in sadness.
Other Ways to Say: Find acceptance, Move forward calmly
18. Live and let live
Meaning: To accept others’ differences and live peacefully alongside them.
In a Sentence: His philosophy was to live and let live, believing that respecting others’ choices without judgment was the key to lasting peace.
Other Ways to Say: Accept differences, Respect others
19. Rest in peace
Meaning: A phrase expressing hope for someone’s peaceful afterlife.
In a Sentence: At the memorial, they spoke with kindness and love, wishing their dear friend would rest in peace after a life filled with kindness and courage.
Other Ways to Say: Eternal peace, Peaceful rest
20. A shoulder to cry on
Meaning: Someone who offers comfort and peace during emotional times.
In a Sentence: Whenever she felt overwhelmed, her best friend was always there as a shoulder to cry on, offering silent support and peace when she needed it most.
Other Ways to Say: Offer emotional support, Be a comfort
21. Still waters run deep
Meaning: Quiet and calm people often have deep emotions or intelligence.
In a Sentence: Though he rarely spoke, it became clear that still waters run deep when he offered profound insights during the meeting.
Other Ways to Say: Quiet depth, Silent wisdom
22. Peace of mind
Meaning: A feeling of mental calm and safety.
In a Sentence: Installing the security system gave her peace of mind, allowing her to sleep soundly without worrying about potential threats.
Other Ways to Say: Inner calm, Feeling secure
23. All is calm, all is bright
Meaning: Everything is peaceful and positive.
In a Sentence: Walking through the quiet, snow-covered streets on Christmas Eve, she felt that all was calm, all was bright, and her heart overflowed with peace.
Other Ways to Say: Serene and joyful, Peaceful night
24. Hold your horses
Meaning: A reminder to slow down and stay calm.
In a Sentence: When the discussion grew heated, the moderator asked everyone to hold their horses and speak one at a time to maintain peace.
Other Ways to Say: Be patient, Slow down
25. Hand in glove
Meaning: Working together in perfect peace and cooperation.
In a Sentence: The two departments worked hand in glove to ensure that the event was organized smoothly and without any misunderstandings.
Other Ways to Say: Work closely, Perfect teamwork
26. Kiss and make up
Meaning: To reconcile after an argument or misunderstanding.
In a Sentence: After a long week of avoiding each other, they decided to kiss and make up, realizing their friendship was too important to lose over a silly disagreement.
Other Ways to Say: Reconcile, Patch things up
27. Quiet as a mouse
Meaning: Extremely silent and peaceful.
In a Sentence: The library was so quiet during the final exams that you could hear a pin drop, with every student quiet as a mouse, fully focused on their studies.
Other Ways to Say: Silent, Very still
28. Come to terms
Meaning: To accept and make peace with a difficult situation.
In a Sentence: It took him several months to come to terms with the new changes at work, but eventually he found a way to adapt peacefully.
Other Ways to Say: Accept, Make peace
29. Level the playing field
Meaning: To create fairness and harmony in a situation.
In a Sentence: The teacher introduced new rules to level the playing field so that every student had an equal chance to succeed without any favoritism.
Other Ways to Say: Create fairness, Equalize opportunities
30. Roll with the punches
Meaning: To adapt peacefully to difficulties or challenges.
In a Sentence: Life kept throwing surprises his way, but he learned to roll with the punches and stay calm no matter what came next.
Other Ways to Say: Adapt calmly, Go with the flow
31. Smooth things over
Meaning: To calm a tense situation and restore peace.
In a Sentence: After the heated meeting, she worked behind the scenes to smooth things over between the team members, ensuring that cooperation continued.
Other Ways to Say: Ease tensions, Settle differences
32. Table the discussion
Meaning: To postpone a debate to keep peace and calm.
In a Sentence: When emotions ran high during the meeting, the leader wisely chose to table the discussion until everyone had cooled down and could talk rationally.
Other Ways to Say: Postpone discussion, Pause the debate
33. A cease-fire
Meaning: A temporary or permanent stop to fighting.
In a Sentence: The cease-fire between the two countries brought much-needed peace to the region and allowed humanitarian aid to reach those in need.
Other Ways to Say: Pause in fighting, Temporary peace
34. Seal of approval
Meaning: Official acceptance, often leading to peace or satisfaction.
In a Sentence: Receiving the manager’s seal of approval for the project finally brought peace of mind to the entire team.
Other Ways to Say: Approval, Authorization
35. Put to rest
Meaning: To settle a problem or worry completely.
In a Sentence: The explanation from the company finally put to rest all the rumors and restored calm among the employees.
Other Ways to Say: End worry, Settle doubts
36. Time heals all wounds
Meaning: With time, emotional pain can fade and peace can return.
In a Sentence: Although it hurt deeply at first, she came to understand that time heals all wounds and allowed herself to open her heart again.
Other Ways to Say: Healing comes with time, Emotional recovery
37. Like oil on troubled waters
Meaning: Something that soothes or calms a difficult situation.
In a Sentence: His thoughtful speech acted like oil on troubled waters, calming the angry crowd and encouraging peaceful dialogue.
Other Ways to Say: Calm things down, Smooth over problems
38. Patch things up
Meaning: To repair a relationship or situation.
In a Sentence: They had a long conversation and were finally able to patch things up, leaving behind the resentment and rebuilding their trust.
Other Ways to Say: Reconcile, Fix a relationship
39. A soft answer turns away wrath
Meaning: Speaking gently can prevent anger or conflict.
In a Sentence: Instead of arguing back, she offered a calm and kind response, proving that a soft answer turns away wrath and keeps the peace intact.
Other Ways to Say: Respond gently, Calm the situation
40. End of hostilities
Meaning: The stopping of conflict, leading to peace.
In a Sentence: The peace treaty marked the official end of hostilities, allowing families separated by war to finally reunite and start anew.
Other Ways to Say: End of fighting, Peace agreement
41. All’s well that ends well
Meaning: If the outcome is good, the earlier problems don’t matter.
In a Sentence: Though the project was full of misunderstandings, everything turned out perfectly in the end, and they agreed that all’s well that ends well.
Other Ways to Say: Happy ending, Everything worked out
42. Peace reigns
Meaning: Peace prevails and dominates a place or situation.
In a Sentence: After the heated election season ended, peace reigned once again over the quiet town, with neighbors reconnecting and moving forward together.
Other Ways to Say: Calm rules, Harmony prevails
43. At peace with oneself
Meaning: Feeling completely calm and content inside.
In a Sentence: After years of self-discovery and acceptance, she finally felt at peace with herself, radiating calmness wherever she went.
Other Ways to Say: Self-acceptance, Inner harmony
44. Make love, not war
Meaning: Promote peace and kindness instead of conflict.
In a Sentence: The rally carried banners urging people to make love, not war, spreading a message of peace and understanding.
Other Ways to Say: Promote peace, Choose kindness
45. A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor
Meaning: Difficulties teach strength and peace follows resilience.
In a Sentence: He reminded himself that a calm sea does not make a skilled sailor, embracing each challenge as a stepping stone to inner peace and wisdom.
Other Ways to Say: Strength through struggle, Growth through hardship
46. Silent night
Meaning: A peaceful, quiet time, especially at night.
In a Sentence: As the snow fell gently outside and the fire crackled softly inside, they cherished the beauty of a truly silent night together.
Other Ways to Say: Quiet night, Peaceful evening
47. Find common ground
Meaning: To agree on shared interests and restore peace.
In a Sentence: Although their opinions clashed at first, they eventually found common ground, enabling a peaceful and respectful collaboration.
Other Ways to Say: Reach agreement, Build understanding
48. Quiet the storm
Meaning: To calm a chaotic or emotional situation.
In a Sentence: Her soothing voice and wise words managed to quiet the storm during the heated debate, allowing reason and peace to prevail.
Other Ways to Say: Calm down, Bring stability
49. Peace offering
Meaning: Something given to end a disagreement and promote peace.
In a Sentence: He showed up with a bouquet of flowers as a peace offering, hoping to heal the hurt he had caused.
Other Ways to Say: Olive branch, Gift of reconciliation
50. Sit down together
Meaning: To meet and talk calmly to resolve issues.
In a Sentence: In order to truly fix their friendship, they decided to sit down together, listen to each other openly, and rebuild their trust piece by piece.
Other Ways to Say: Meet peacefully, Talk it out
Practical Exercise
Fill in the blanks:
- After months of tension, the two leaders agreed to _______ the peace pipe and resolve their differences.
- Sometimes it’s better to let sleeping _______ lie and avoid bringing up old arguments.
- He offered a sincere _______ to his sister after their big fight.
- The calm before the _______ made everyone anxious about what was coming.
- They decided to table the _______ until tempers cooled.
- Despite the challenges, she learned to roll with the _______ and stay positive.
- When the project ended successfully, everyone agreed that all’s well that _______ well.
- The heartfelt letter acted like oil on troubled _______ and restored peace between them.
- She finally made _______ with her decision to move to a new city.
- Finding common _______ allowed the two groups to work together happily.
Answers:
smoke, dogs, peace offering, storm, discussion, punches, ends, waters, peace, ground
Conclusion
Idioms about peace are like little bridges that help us express deep feelings and complicated ideas in ways that feel natural, beautiful, and relatable. Whether you’re smoothing over a disagreement with a friend, talking about finding inner calm, or discussing peace on a global scale, these idioms offer powerful and memorable ways to connect through language.
The more you practice using these expressions, the more confident and natural you’ll sound when speaking or writing about important topics like forgiveness, understanding, and harmony. So next time you want to share a peaceful thought, try sprinkling one of these idioms into your conversation — and watch how beautifully your words can create a sense of calm and connection.