bred-in-the-bone

[ bred-n-thuh-bohn ]

adjective
  1. firmly instilled or established as if by heredity: the bred-in-the-bone integrity of the school's headmaster.

  2. deeply committed or resolved; unwavering: a bred-in-the-bone believer in civil rights.

Origin of bred-in-the-bone

1
First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English; from the proverb “What is bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh,” first recorded in England (in Latin ) circa 1290, and widespread in various versions

Words Nearby bred-in-the-bone

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bred-in-the-bone in a sentence

  • Theodore Roosevelt was a thoroughgoing, bred-in-the-bone individualist, but not as the term is ordinarily understood.

  • But one can never reckon with real, bred-in-the-bone old-maidism.

    Chronicles of Avonlea | Lucy Maud Montgomery