sleepwalk
Americanverb (used without object)
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sleepwalks,
present (3rd person singular)
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sleepwalked,
past participle, past
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sleepwalking
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sleepwalksimple
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sleepwalkssimple
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have sleepwalkedperfect
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has sleepwalkedperfect
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am sleepwalkingprogressive
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are sleepwalkingprogressive
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is sleepwalkingprogressive
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have been sleepwalkingperfect progressive
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has been sleepwalkingperfect progressive
Past
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sleepwalkedsimple
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had sleepwalkedperfect
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was sleepwalkingprogressive
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were sleepwalkingprogressive
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had been sleepwalkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sleepwalk
First recorded in 1920–25; back formation from sleepwalking
Explanation
To sleepwalk is to walk around despite being sound asleep. If you wake up outside in your PJ's, then, chances are, you were sleepwalking. A fancier word for sleepwalk is sonamubulate, and the act of sleepwalking is known as sonambulism by doctors who study and treat sleep disorders. It's considered a disorder to sleepwalk because normally your sleeping brain keeps you from performing actions like walking (even when you dream that you're walking). In Shakespeare's play Macbeth, there is a famous scene in which Lady Macbeth sleepwalks because of her guilty conscience.
Vocabulary lists containing sleepwalk
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.
See Examples For:
In the fifth set—the scene of so many Djokovic comebacks—Djokovic could do little more than sleepwalk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
The MLS started play seven weeks ago but apparently someone forgot to tell the Galaxy, who continue to sleepwalk through a season that is rapidly slipping away from them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
Although this recipe does involve more moves than, say, sleepwalk chicken and vegetables, it’s still blissfully easy.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2024
Perhaps cognizant that he needs to sleepwalk through a couple more interviews before the primary on March 5, Garvey has subjected himself to short TV segments of late.
From Slate ● Feb. 5, 2024
“You look like you sleepwalk through the day,” he said.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
The supernatural flashback chapters of Dunia’s sleepwalks unpeel the layers of trapped family secrets that land Dunia in her present condition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
She sleepwalks, talks to herself and dreads the ringing phone because the caller, “no matter the voice, will not be the voice.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2020
"The person who sleepwalks will appear to be awake but they're really not. And we know this from monitoring their brainwaves," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2017
He said he lost 18 pounds while behind bars, and his wife said he still sleepwalks, checking the bedroom door for air as if he is still in a cell.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 24, 2017
Team sleepwalks through a season in which it gets off to 1-10 start, during which Williams says: “That doom and gloom stuff ain’t going to cut it with me. … Next question.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 8, 2014
She must have heard him cry, sleepwalked to the nursery, lifted him out of the crib while she was still asleep, then woke to discover the crib empty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Nation-states have sleepwalked into war against their better judgments, and the same could be true of states within states.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2024
During her evidence, Lady Foster rejected suggestions the Northern Ireland Executive "sleepwalked" into the pandemic.
From BBC ● May 21, 2024
The Clippers sleepwalked into a 10-point deficit, didn’t make a three-pointer for 13 minutes and trailed by six at halftime.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2023
The three stood swaying on their feet, eyes half closed, and sleepwalked downstairs with Penelope shepherding them from behind.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
They’re not just scuffling, they’re sleepwalking, this team that previously had a .773 OPS through the end of July.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Baroness Sheehan, the committee chair, said: "England is at risk of sleepwalking into serious water scarcity if the government does not act now to safeguard the water system."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
“People are kind of sleepwalking into disaster,” Nestler said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
“Myanmar appears to be sleepwalking into China’s sphere of influence,” the ISP-Myanmar team wrote in an annual report published in January.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
It’s as though I’ve been sleepwalking and suddenly woken to find myself here.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
