Jump to content

beauty sleep

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: beauty-sleep

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]
Raja Ravi Varma, Lady Resting on the Pillow (19th–20th century).

From beauty (noun) +‎ sleep (noun).[1][2]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

beauty sleep (countable and uncountable, plural beauty sleeps) (idiomatic)

  1. (uncountable) Originally, sleep taken before midnight, on the belief that early sleep hours conduce to beauty and health; now (chiefly humorous), sleep at any time needed by one to stay beautiful; (countable) an instance of such sleep. [from early 19th c.]
  2. (uncountable, chiefly humorous) Extra sleep; also (generally), any sleep; (countable) an instance of this; an extra nap.
    Synonym: beauty rest
    • 1901, Ralph Connor, “A Good True Friend”, in The Man from Glengarry: A Tale of the Ottawa, Toronto, Ont.: The Westminster Company, →OCLC, page 428:
      But eager as Kate was for her beauty sleep, the light burned late in her room; and long after she had seen Mrs. Murray snugly tucked in for the night, she sat with Ranald's open letter in her hand, reading it till she almost knew it by heart.
    • 1906 October, Annie Fellows Johnston, “The Wedding”, in The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1907, →OCLC:
      "I know I ought to be taking a beauty sleep," she thought, "so I'll be all fresh and fine for the evening, but I must find it [a piece of turquoise], for I promised Phil I'd wear it."

Alternative forms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ beauty sleep, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
  2. ^ beauty sleep, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.

Further reading

[edit]