sleep-deprived

American  

[sleep-di-prahyvd] / ˈslip dɪˌpraɪvd /

adjective

1. affected by fatigue, weakness, impaired judgment, loss of mental alertness, etc., due to lack of sleep.

   I wasn’t going to wait in line overnight and then be in a store with 700 other sleep-deprived shoppers, any of whom could mentally snap and strangle me at any moment.

   If you know you’re going to have a sleep-deprived EEG, plan to have someone drive you to and from the test.

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Etymology

Origin of sleep-deprived

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Attention lapses when we’re sleep-deprived result from our brain’s efforts to clean itself up, a process that usually happens during sleep, recent research found.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Today I slept pretty good but usually I’m pretty sleep-deprived, overworked, and we’ve got a lot going on.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

When someone is sleep-deprived, the body appears to try to make up for lost rest by triggering bursts of this fluid movement during wakefulness.

From Science Daily • Jan. 20, 2026

One reporter present at the meeting described the assembled billionaires as "pale and sleep-deprived".

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025

Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence that, even in his befuddled and sleep-deprived state, Harry did not like to see.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling