in her right mind
6
4.6
- idiom
- Or are you, perhaps, not in your right mind?
- one in their right mind
- man in his right mind
- woman in her right mind
Examples
-
No judge in his right mind would let this continue.
-
Then why would any witness in his right mind ever come forward or do my job?
-
What father in his right mind would want to see that?
Fiction book (1990) -
What man in his right mind would believe such a story?
Fiction book (2001) -
Beth was not in her right mind when she signed those forms.
-
No lady has a vegetable garden, and no person in her right mind would put one in front of a nice house anyway.
Fiction book (1997) -
What married woman in her right mind invites a girl that pretty into her own home?
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No woman in her right mind would attempt to operate a 150,000-acre spread.
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No one in his right mind is going to believe she's a doctor, not even a veterinarian.
-
Any person in their right mind would think twice before making such a risky investment.
Synonyms
130
3.2
Having a healthy mind and able to think clearly
10
6.5
Able to think clearly and make decisions
7
4.2
Able to think calmly and logically without confusion or distraction
How Sane
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'sane; thinking sensibly' can be partly inferred from 'right' (proper/correct) + 'mind' (the faculty of thinking) as meaning a properly functioning mind, so a learner who knows the constituents may guess a related sense. However, the idiomatic phrasing and the specific sense 'not crazy' is a conventionalized extension of 'right' that is not fully predictable and shows cross‑linguistic variation, making it only partly transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
In her right mind paints a simple picture: her mind is right, meaning correct and working well rather than confused. So, to say someone is in her right mind means she is 'thinking clearly' and not acting in a wild or unsafe way.