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• Rip Van Winkle
  Rip Van Winkle

  noun

  (in a story by Washington Irving) a ne'er-do-well who sleeps 20 years and upon waking is startled to find how much the world has changed.
• “Rip Van Winkle”
  “Rip Van Winkle”

  (1819) A story by Washington Irving. The title character goes to sleep after a game of bowling and much drinking in the mountains with a band of dwarves. He awakens twenty years later, an old man. Back home, Rip finds that all has changed: his wife is dead, his daughter is married, and the American Revolutionary War has taken place.

Rip Van Winkle

American  

[rip van wing-kuhl] / ˌrɪp væn ˈwɪŋ kəl /

noun

1. (in a story by Washington Irving) a ne'er-do-well who sleeps 20 years and upon waking is startled to find how much the world has changed.

2. (italics) the story itself, published in The Sketch Book (1819).

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Rip Van Winkle British  

/ ˈrɪp væn ˈwɪŋkəl /

noun

1. a person who is oblivious to changes, esp in social attitudes or thought

2. a person who sleeps a lot

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“Rip Van Winkle” Cultural  

1. (1819) A story by Washington Irving. The title character goes to sleep after a game of bowling and much drinking in the mountains with a band of dwarves. He awakens twenty years later, an old man. Back home, Rip finds that all has changed: his wife is dead, his daughter is married, and the American Revolutionary War has taken place.

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Etymology

Origin of Rip Van Winkle

C19: from a character who slept for 20 years, in a story (1819) by Washington Irving (1783–1859), US writer

Example Sentences

A Rip Van Winkle who slept through the last half-century and awoke on Monday, Oct.

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025

Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery’s suggested retail price of Pappy 23-year-old is $299.99.

From Washington Times • Mar. 8, 2023

“My only experience with the theater was playing Rip Van Winkle in the Cub Scouts,” he told The Daily News in 1993.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2023

In 2021, all three medalists in the “International Lager” category were Mexican lagers, including Rip Van Winkle Brewing’s Uncle Tito Mexican Lager.

From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2022

I’m like that old man with the beard, Rip Van Winkle.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven