deep down
117
3.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
en el fondo
- I think deep down I kind of knew I had these things.
- deep down, I think
- deep down, I know
I would suggest that deep down you still have this connection.
- I would suggest that deep down you still have this connection.
- I believe that everyone deep down knows what's right and what's wrong.
- Every filmmaker is deep down, very afraid on opening night.
- At the same time, deep down, they're afraid of the Palestinians.
- But in the end, I believe that Americans deep down inside know two things.
- But I loved it deep down, but I also hated it.
- Now you know this deep, deep down, you know this is true.
- Because he probably deep down knew that he was being crazy, right?
- See, most parents deep down believe that money is something to protect kids from.
- I think deep down I kind of knew I had these things.
- Until this point, it has felt like it, but I know deep down that it's not.
- So I knew I think deep down inside I was living life that way.
Examples
-
Life felt very hard and I knew deep down that something had to give.
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If it's real enough, he'll believe it, because deep down he'll want to.
Fiction book (1996) -
I would suggest that deep down you still have this connection.
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But we all know that deep down you feel like you could pull anyone.
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You know, deep down, I think I always kind of knew.
-
Charles would have laughed at them except he knew deep down that something bad had happened.
Fiction book (1991) -
I believe that everyone deep down knows what's right and what's wrong.
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I know deep down, you're not all bad.
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Deep down, I knew I wasn't abandoned.
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I believe that everyone deep down knows what's right and what's wrong.
Synonyms
77
3.5
Really being a certain kind of person despite how someone seems
3
6.6
Basically what is most true about someone or something
To feel something deep inside but not say it
Antonyms
How Deep
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'what someone really feels or believes' is a direct compositional combination of 'deep' (intensely, at a great depth) and 'down' (inward/at a lower/inner level), yielding 'deeply inside'. This adverbial inwardness is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'en el fondo', French 'au fond') and follows productive English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Deep down comes from the idea that something is deep and far down inside you, like a feeling at the bottom of a well or inside your chest. So deep down means 'what someone really feels or believes' even if they don't show it.