asleep
Americanadverb
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in or into a state of sleep.
He fell asleep quickly.
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into a dormant or inactive state; to rest.
Their anxieties were put asleep.
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into the state of death.
adjective
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sleeping.
He is asleep.
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dormant; inactive.
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(of the foot, hand, leg, etc.) numb.
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dead.
adjective
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in or into a state of sleep
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in or into a dormant or inactive state
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(of limbs, esp when the blood supply to them has been restricted) numb; lacking sensation
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euphemistic dead
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of asleep
before 1000; Middle English o slæpe, aslepe, Old English on slǣpe; see a- 1, sleep
Explanation
If you're asleep, you're not awake and reading this. A baby might find it hard to fall asleep without being held and rocked. Some people snore when they're asleep, and others have strange, vivid dreams. In either case, their eyes are closed and they're in a state of rest that's close to being unconscious. You can also use asleep figuratively, to mean "numb," as when your leg falls asleep, or "inattentive," as when the opposing soccer team is asleep and your team beats them easily.
Vocabulary lists containing asleep
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.
"A few days ago, they ran a compressor test with a big bang... even the children who were asleep woke up in fear," said Ali, a retired paper mill worker.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
He said they were gone in the morning when he woke up, and often didn’t come home until he was asleep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
"I think somewhere in there, in my head, my brain just didn't feel safe while I was asleep," she says.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
A person may still fall asleep at a normal time and remain asleep for what appears to be a full night, yet the quality of that rest may still be altered.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The kind that only comes when the household is settled and asleep.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
