Meaning & use
sound decisions
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Decisions that are based on good judgment and likely to produce a good result.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun phrase; the adjective 'sound' cannot be replaced by 'noisy' or 'healthy' here.
Patterns
- make sound decisions
- sound decisions about something
- reach sound decisions
The board made sound decisions during the crisis and the company survived.
Parents try to make sound decisions about their children's education.
Sound decisions require clear information and careful thought.
Common combinations
- make sound decisions
- She is known for making sound decisions under pressure.
- sound business decisions
- Sound business decisions helped the startup grow steadily.
- sound decisions about
- We need sound decisions about how to spend the budget.
- based on sound decisions
- The policy was based on sound decisions, not on emotion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wise decisions
- Wise decisions emphasize deep experience and moral insight, while sound decisions emphasize practical reliability and logic.
- good decisions
- Good decisions is more general and informal; sound decisions suggests a careful, reasoned process.
- sensible decisions
- Sensible decisions focus on avoiding unnecessary risk; sound decisions focus on being well-founded and correct.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sound decisions or sound decision?
sound decisions vs sound decision
The singular form refers to one decision; the plural 'sound decisions' refers to more than one. Make sure the verb agrees: 'a sound decision was made' vs 'sound decisions were made'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sound decisions' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Sound decisions' means decisions based on good judgment, as in option 1. The other options wrongly connect 'sound' with noise or loudness, which is a different meaning of 'sound'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sound decisions”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.