in one's right mind

1. 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.

Example Sentences

Compos mentis, kom′pos ment′is, adj. phrase, in one's right mind—sometimes merely Compos.

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For to be in one's right mind causes grief: but madness is an ill; yet it is better to perish, nothing knowing of one's ills.

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Adj. sane, rational, reasonable, compos mentis, of sound mind; sound, sound-minded; lucid. self-possessed; sober, sober-minded. in one's sober senses, in one's right mind; in possession of one's faculties.

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The question remains, … what IS logic? … and what IS being in one's right mind?

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Related Words

• clear-cut 
• consistent 
• credible 
• judicious 
• justifiable 
• logical 
• plausible 
• rational 
• reasoned 
• sane 
• sensible 
• sober 
• thoughtful 
• wise