Meanings
- not comparablesimileVery secure.
Yes'ir, I'm saved as safe as houses
1895, E. M. Stooke, Not Exactly, as cited in The English Dialect Dictionary: R-S, Volume 5, Joseph Wright, editor, 19044 more examples
1808, William Milton, "Memorial", Appendix 6A to Third Report from the Committee on the Highways of the Kingdon, House of Commons papers In objection to this Coach, it is urged by the Coachmen that it looks heavy; and that they had rather break a leg now and then than drive such an ugly thing; but it regularly makes part of their sarcasm, that "It is as safe as a house"
The owner of the weapon assured him that he was as safe as houses
1859, Kinahan Cornwallis, A panorama of the New World, volume I, page 79The clothes will floor us as safe as houses!
1874, Thomas Hardy, chapter LVII, in Far from the Madding CrowdYou could see where your money was, if you owned a house; it was safe, safe as houses, the very phrase, and you couldn't say safer than that unless you brought in the Bank of England which was too big altogether for the local men and their well-warmed nest eggs
1951, Jack Common, Kiddar's luck
Origin
Refererring to the investment value of property.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
safe as houses. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safe%20as%20houses
“safe as houses.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safe%20as%20houses. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “safe as houses,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safe%20as%20houses.
Source: safe as houses on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.