still

The word "still" can be an adjective, an adverb, or a noun.

When used as an adverb, "still" describes time. Something was true in the past and the situation has not changed:

• His flight hasn’t left yet. He’s still at the airport.
• Do you still want to go fishing this weekend?
• Belinda borrowed twenty dollars from me last week and she still has not paid me back.
• It started raining three hours ago, and it’s still coming down.
• Even though he works in an office, he still wears jeans to work every day.

When used as an adjective, the word "still" means that something is motionless or not moving:

• The water on the lake today is very still.
• That cat is sitting very still. He’s not moving.
• The doctor told the patient to keep his head still as he examined the man’s ears.
• Stay still! Don’t move! There’s a bee on your head.

When used as a noun, "still" has a few different meanings:

• The police found a still in his backyard. (still = the outside production of alcohol, usually illegal)
• In the still of the night, we could hear the sound of an owl. (still = silence)
• In addition to video, they took some stills to promote their movie. (still = a photo)

You can even use the word "still" as a conjunction to mean "yet."

• He doesn’t treat his girlfriend very well. Still, she loves him.
• We finished a lot of work today. Still, there’s more to be done tomorrow.

One more thing about the word "still"…..

still life

When a person takes photographs or paints pictures of ordinary objects on a table, we call this "still life." The most popular subjects for still life art are vegetables, fruit, glasses of liquid, and an assortment of other food items. Many artists develop their talent through still life art.

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The page was first published on April 5, 2012. It was updated on February 27, 2015.