sleepy hollow
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Any village far removed from the active concerns of the outside world. The name given in Washington Irving's Sketch Book to a quiet old-world village on the Hudson.
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 “sleepy hollow” mean?
Any village far removed from the active concerns of the outside world. The name given in Washington Irving's Sketch Book to a quiet old-world village on the Hudson.
Is “sleepy hollow” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.