fast asleep
19
2.5
- idiom
- /fæst əˈsliːp/
:
dormido profundamente
- Lloyd is now fast asleep in the passenger seat as Harry drives on.
- fell fast asleep
- fast asleep in his bed
- fast asleep on the couch
Where the afternoon light is so kind and the corgi lies fast asleep on our feet.
- Where the afternoon light is so kind and the corgi lies fast asleep on our feet.
- They'll be here soon, the kids fast asleep.
- I could walk you through the agendas of those meetings and you'd be fast asleep.
- She would be over in the sofa with a blanket over her with her pilly and she would be fast asleep by midday for sure.
- To know that you can be in your home, in your bed, fast asleep, That was something that it was real.
- I'm just saying this time I feel it now when God falls fast asleep, the kids still move to a steady beat.
Examples
-
The cat lay fast asleep on the couch, completely oblivious to the noise around her.
-
But there he was in the tub, eyes shut, fast asleep.
Fiction book (2000) -
I was fast asleep, and you never said you were coming.
-
Well, I put him in bed, and... he fell fast asleep.
-
The three men in the cargo bay were fast asleep.
Fiction book (2001) -
You'll probably be fast asleep before they get here though.
-
The food and weariness from the long bus journey had me fast asleep in no time.
Fiction book (1992) -
Camera pans to discover mother and daughter, fast asleep, in each other's arms.
Fiction book (1998) -
Richard is fast asleep while Francesca sits up in bed reading.
Fiction book (1995) -
Oona was back by then, but like Kate and the children, she was fast asleep in her cabin.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
73
1.0
Become not awake
19
3.2
Resting very deeply and not waking easily
14
2.8
A heavy sleep when the body and mind rest and are not aware of surroundings
2
3.5
Completely not awake and hard to wake
1
4.0
A very heavy sleep that is hard to wake from
Antonyms
How Asleep
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'sleeping very deeply' is directly derivable from 'fast' used in the sense 'firmly/completely' combined with 'asleep' (i.e. 'firmly asleep' = deeply/completely asleep). This intensifier + adjective pattern is a common, compositional English structure and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent senses.
Etymology
The phrase fast asleep comes from an old use of fast that meant 'firm' or 'held tightly', not 'quick'. It gives the picture of sleep holding you so strongly that you cannot move, so it means 'sleeping very deeply'.