Phrase guide

big sleep

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Death.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic, idiomatic

Qualifier: almost always preceded by the

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dirt nap, sleep of the just, death, tomb, celestial transfer, decease, decomposition, defunction, dematerialization, demise, doom, exit, expiration, fatality, liquidation, mortality, passing, quietus, repose, sunset, the big sleep, crash, downfall, fall, (the) bane, (the) end

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Apparently coined by novelist Raymond Chandler, author of The Big Sleep (1939).

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: ikiuni — type of sleep used as euphemism for death