sleep debt

American

[sleep det] / ˈslip ˌdɛt /

noun

the difference between the amount of sleep a person needs and the actual amount of time spent sleeping, when the amount needed exceeds the time slept.

The cumulative effect of sleep debt—over days, weeks, or longer—can be linked to a number of physical, emotional, and cognitive impairments.

Etymology

Origin of sleep debt

First recorded in 1930–35

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.

Many U.S. teens accumulate sleep debt during the school week as they juggle academic demands, social activities, extracurricular commitments, and in many cases part-time jobs.

From Science Daily • Jan. 7, 2026

The benefits of napping are strongest for people who have sleep debt, meaning they don’t get enough nighttime sleep.

From Scientific American • Aug. 5, 2023

“The sleep debt collectors are coming,” Oliver Whang wrote in The Times last year.

From New York Times • Jul. 8, 2023

Alex's sleep debt quickly accumulated and began to affect her mental health as she blamed herself for not getting her son to sleep the way the courses said he would, or could.

From Salon • May 12, 2023

It must be the sleep debt I owe my body—the accumulated hours of missed rest over the past four days.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023