beauty sleep
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Sleep taken before midnight. Those who habitually go to bed, especially during youth, after midnight, are supposed to become pale and more or less haggard.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “beauty sleep” mean?
Sleep taken before midnight. Those who habitually go to bed, especially during youth, after midnight, are supposed to become pale and more or less haggard.
Is “beauty sleep” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.