Word.ws English Dictionary

sleep of the just

UK/ˈsliːp əv ðə ˈdʒʌst//ˈslip əv ðə ˈdʒʌst/

sleep of the just noun: a deep and worry-free sleep.

Noun

sleep of the just (uncountable)

  1. A deep and worry-free sleep.
    • Make your mind easy, Percival. Sleep, my son, the sleep of the just; and see what I will do for you when daylight comes to help us both.1859 November 26 – 1860 August 25, [William] Wilkie Collins, “The Narrative of Marian Halcombe, Taken from Her Diary”, in The Woman in White. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published...
    • Then—Smith went to bed, and slept the sleep of the just, with not a glimmering of an idea that he was not the unselfishest and lovingest of husbands.1867 October, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s Headaches”, in I[saac] W[illiam] Wiley, editor, The Ladies’ Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature and Religion, volume XXVII, Cincinnati, Oh....
  2. (dated, euphemistic) A peaceful death or burial.
    • Towards the close of the day (the 8th) the holy father [Pope Leo XII], who had never lost his recollection, fell into a profound lethargy, from which he did not recover till at nine in the morning of the 10th [of February, 1829], to fall into the sleep of the just.1829 April 18, “Death of Pope Leo XII”, in H[ezekiah] Niles & son, editors, Niles’ Weekly Register, volume XII, number 8 (Third Series; volume XXXVI, issue 918 overall), Baltimore, Md.: H[ezekiah]...
    • At length he [Jean-Pierre-François Guillot-Duhamel] slept the sleep of the just, on the 19th February 1816, aged somewhat less than 86 years old.1830 October–December, [Georges] Cuvier, “Biographical Memoir of M. Duhamel”, in Robert Jameson, editor, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Discoveries and...

Examples of sleep of the just in a sentence

  • That night, as Grimley Grange was sleeping the sleep of the just, two shadowy forms crept through the shrubbery by the library window with all the stealthiness of professional house-breakers.1915–1916, John Lea, “Sir Guy’s Atonement: A Christmas Term Story”, in The Boy’s Own Paper, volume XXXVIII, part 3, London: “Boy’s Own...
  • That is why I presented that bill on February 4th, but it slept the sleep of the just in the Committee on Education.1958 May 9, [Roseller Tarroza] Lim, “Manifestaciones del Sen. [Decoroso] Rosales”, in Republic of the Philippines Congressional Record...
  • The maid slept the sleep of the just, and a faint whistling came from her nose, like babies when they have a slight cold.2016 September, Vito Bruschini, chapter 25, in Anne Milano Appel, transl., The Prince, New York, N.Y.: Atria Paperback, →ISBN, page 172:

Synonyms of sleep of the just

16 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Origin of sleep of the just

From the idea that people who act justly have no worries and so sleep well, while unjust people are concerned about the consequences of their actions and so sleep poorly.

Words that rhyme with sleep of the just

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about sleep of the just

What does sleep of the just mean?
Sleep of the just means a deep and worry-free sleep.
How do you use sleep of the just in a sentence?
That night, as Grimley Grange was sleeping the sleep of the just, two shadowy forms crept through the shrubbery by the library window with all the stealthiness of professional house-breakers.
What part of speech is sleep of the just?
Sleep of the just is a noun.
How do you pronounce sleep of the just?
Sleep of the just is pronounced /ˈsliːp əv ðə ˈdʒʌst/ (UK).

Words near sleep of the just in the dictionary

  1. sleep masks
  2. sleep mode
  3. sleep modes
  4. sleep nappies
  5. sleep nappy
  6. sleep of the just
  7. sleep off
  8. sleep on
  9. sleep one off
  10. sleep out
  11. sleep over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sleep of the just (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-sleep of the just.mp3.

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