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

When she was sleep-deprived, and struggling with postnatal depression with her first child, she paid hundreds of pounds for a sleep consultant and self-described maternity nurse, who had thousands of followers online.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

While some can handle a disrupted sleep schedule better than others, all sleep-deprived people who participated in the study experienced this effect, Lewis said.

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

As expected, sleep-deprived participants performed significantly worse than when they were well-rested.

From Science Daily • Jan. 20, 2026

Our sleep-deprived night could be seen in the circles under our eyes, and our stomachs rumbled with hunger, but we felt for the first time that our ordeal might soon be over.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall