safe and sound
5 synonyms and 3 antonyms for safe and sound, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Adjective phrase — Having arrived or come through something without injury or harm, especially after a period of worry or danger.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Antonyms
How to use safe and sound
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
home safe and sound
arrived safe and sound
found safe and sound
Neutral and everyday, common in speech, messages and news reporting.
Etymology
A pairing of safe (“not in danger”) and sound (“intact, healthy”); compare Old French sauf et sain.
Full origin of safe and sound →Frequently asked questions
Is safe and sound redundant?
Technically yes, since sound here already means free from damage. It survives as a fixed alliterative pair, and the doubling is what gives it its reassuring warmth, so nobody trims it.
What does the sound in safe and sound mean?
It is the older sense of sound meaning whole, healthy and undamaged, the same one in of sound mind and a sound structure. It has nothing to do with noise.
When do you use safe and sound?
Almost always about a person or thing that has just completed a journey or escaped a risk. It rarely describes an ongoing state, so you would say she got back safe and sound rather than she is safe and sound at her desk.
