idyll

or i·dyl

[ ahyd-l ]

noun

1. a delightful, tranquil rural scene or episode, reminiscent of or suitable for pastoral art or literature:

   A great many horror movies are set in a suburban idyll.

2. a short descriptive or narrative poem or prose work, depicting a pleasant, tranquil, idealized pastoral scene or event, or any charmingly simple episode in literature.
3. A long narrative poem on a major theme, but less elevated and formal in subject matter, language, and tone than an epic:

   Tennyson's Idylls of the King is an elegaic retelling of Arthurian legend.

4. a brief or inconsequential romantic affair.
5. Music. a composition, usually instrumental, of a pastoral or sentimental character.

idyll

/ ˈɪdɪl /

noun

1. a poem or prose work describing an idealized rural life, pastoral scenes, etc
2. any simple narrative or descriptive piece in poetry or prose
3. a charming or picturesque scene or event
4. a piece of music with a calm or pastoral character

Word History and Origins

Origin of idyll¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin īdyllium from Greek eidýllion “short pastoral poem,” equivalent to eíd(os) “form” + -yllion diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of idyll¹

C17: from Latin īdyllium, from Greek eidullion, from eidos shape, (literary) form

Example Sentences

Vance and other Republicans as “weird” for their obsession with invading privacy, constraining rights, making up people to get mad at, and, of course, pushing antiquated and illiberal visions of a Christian nationalist idyll, with a white male overclass enforcing its dominance by any means necessary.

From Slate

But this idyll is under threat as the seawater levels continue to rise.

From BBC

Full of snappy and snappish dialogue, the book imagines a carnival-esque week’s idyll in the “shantytown of millionaires” that was 1950s Malibu.

From Los Angeles Times

The film takes us along on the kid’s various little adventures — including a trip to Namibia to find some hippos, a la Pablo Escobar — and draws us into his tender relationship with Yolcaut, but violence constantly laps the edges of his idyll, finally exploding in a gore-and-gunshots finale.

From New York Times

Luca Guadagnino’s 2015 film “A Bigger Splash” painted a seductive idyll of mud baths, romantic ruins and secluded swimming coves.

From New York Times

Related Words

• breathing space
• lull
• respite