in one's right mind
Save This Word!
In a healthy mental state; sane and rational. For example, No one in his right mind would ski down this icy slope. This expression is often used in a negative construction, as in the example. The positive sense appears in the New Testament (Mark 5:15), where a deranged man whom Jesus helped is now “sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.” The antonym out of one's mind, as in You must be out of your mind to swim in that icy stream, is from the same period. [c. 1600] Also see go out of one's mind.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Words nearby in one's right mind
in one's own backyard, in one's own right, in one's own world, in one's pocket, in one's prime, in one's right mind, in one's shell, in one's tracks, in one stroke, in one's way, Inönü
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.