breathe easy

Idioms  

1. Also,. Relax, feel relieved from anxiety, stress, or tension. For example, Now that exams are over with, I can breathe easy, or Whenever I'm back in the mountains, I can breathe freely again. This idiom originally (late 1500s) was put as breathe again, implying that one had stopped breathing (or held one's breath) while feeling anxious or nervous. Shakespeare had it in King John (4:2): “Now I breathe again aloft the flood.” The variant dates from the first half of the 1800s.

---

Example Sentences

That doesn’t mean consumers—or the Federal Reserve—can breathe easy in 2026.

From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025

With the conclusion of the North Carolina Supreme Court election challenge in May, and with her voter registration updated and verified, she could finally breathe easy.

From Salon • Jul. 1, 2025

There were enough boxes ticked for Japan to breathe easy - but the main purpose of Ishiba's visit was personal.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2025

To anyone worried that “Megalopolis” would be the only risky, expensive late-career epic from a Hollywood legend to premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, breathe easy.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2024

Letting herself breathe easy now, Pecola covered her head with the quilt.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• calm
• lie down
• loosen up
• recline
• sit back
• soften
• unwind