sleepless
Americanadjective
-
without sleep.
a sleepless night.
-
watchful; alert.
sleepless devotion to duty.
-
always active.
the sleepless ocean.
adjective
-
without sleep or rest
a sleepless journey
-
unable to sleep
-
always watchful or alert
-
poetic always active or moving
the sleepless tides
Other Word Forms
- sleeplessly adverb
- sleeplessness noun
Etymology
Origin of sleepless
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; sleep, -less
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"These results, they come from hard work in the dark, a lot of sleepless nights trying to figure out how to master my craft and be more consistent with my jump shot."
From Barron's
Figuring out how to absorb these costs has led to “more than a few sleepless nights,” she said.
From Salon
What followed was a sleepless night for Seoul.
From BBC
A Welsh farmer has had sleepless nights and been left feeling "angry and scared" since changes to inheritance tax rules were announced.
From BBC
With nowhere else to go, Hassan took his family to the seaside, where they spent a sleepless night squeezed together in the car.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
