sleep soundly

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

to rest without disturbance from guilt, anxiety, or moral unease, indicating that one's actions and choices have been sufficiently ethical that one's conscience poses no obstacle to peaceful rest; the ability to sleep soundly is used as a practical test of moral integrity — if you would be disturbed by the thought of your action being known, or troubled in the small hours by its consequences, this disturbance is a signal from conscience that something is wrong; the phrase is often used prescriptively: I can sleep soundly knowing I did the right thing, or as a challenge: could you sleep soundly having done that; it connects physiological wellbeing to moral conduct, suggesting that ethical living is not just a social obligation but a condition of psychological peace