Jump To:

• Let sleeping dogs lie
  Let sleeping dogs lie

  Do not stir up a problem that has lain quiet for some time.
• let sleeping dogs lie
  let sleeping dogs lie

  Allow inactive problems to remain so, as in Jane knew she should report the accident but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been stated in English since the late 1300s.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Cultural  

1. Do not stir up a problem that has lain quiet for some time.

---

let sleeping dogs lie Idioms  

1. Allow inactive problems to remain so, as in Jane knew she should report the accident but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been stated in English since the late 1300s.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Let sleeping dogs lie let sleeping dogs lie

An old expression came to us: Let sleeping dogs lie.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2021

And her message to me was: Let sleeping dogs lie.

From Time ● May 23, 2016

Let sleeping dogs lie, he thought to himself, remembering the dinner.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Among those whose duty it is to govern Algeria, there is a proverb which, for various good reasons, has come to be much esteemed: "Let sleeping dogs lie."

From The Golden Silence by Williamson, A. M. (Alice Muriel)

It was his carriage they were in, Eleanor then perceived; and she wanted to ask a question; but on the whole concluded it safe to be still; according to the proverb, Let sleeping dogs lie.

From The Old Helmet, Volume I by Warner, Susan

Maybe sometimes we should let sleeping dogs lie.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

"I was slightly concerned people might say I should let sleeping dogs lie, but I haven't received a single derogatory remark," she says.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2019

“Everyone else knows that you let sleeping dogs lie, particularly in the case of the S.E.C.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 2018

I have tried to talk with my parents, but they prefer to let sleeping dogs lie.

From Washington Post ● May 5, 2016

I was afraid he might have chosen to let sleeping dogs lie.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk