sleeping sickness
Americannoun
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Also called African sleeping sickness,. Also called African trypanosomiasis. a generally fatal disease, common in parts of Africa, characterized by fever, wasting, and progressive lethargy: caused by a parasitic protozoan, Trypanosoma gambiense or T. rhodesiense, that is carried by a tsetse fly, Glossina palpalis.
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Also called epidemic encephalitis,. Also called lethargic encephalitis. a viral disease affecting the brain, characterized by apathy, sleepiness, extreme muscular weakness, and impairment of vision.
noun
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Also called: African sleeping sickness. an African disease caused by infection with protozoans of the genus Trypanosoma, characterized by fever, wasting, and sluggishness
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Technical name: encephalitis lethargica. Also called (esp formerly): sleepy sickness. an epidemic viral form of encephalitis characterized by extreme drowsiness
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An often fatal protozoan infection prevalent in tropical Africa, caused by either of two trypanosomes spread by the bite of the tsetse fly and characterized by fever and extreme lethargy.
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Encephalitis that is caused by any of various viruses and is characterized by lethargy and extreme muscular weakness.
Etymology
Origin of sleeping sickness
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
In one striking case, a ground squirrel bone from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, dated to about 1.8 million years ago, showed evidence of infection by the parasite that causes sleeping sickness in humans.
From Science Daily • Jan. 3, 2026
You talk about the labor impact of sleeping sickness.
From Salon • May 8, 2025
With Death’s capture, millions are suddenly affected by a strange sleeping sickness: either unable to sleep or basically in a coma.
From The Verge • Aug. 5, 2022
It turns out that the variants rose to a high frequency among people in sub-Saharan Africa because they offer powerful protection against deadly African sleeping sickness, a disease caused by trypanosomes.
From New York Times • May 17, 2022
"What if I worked on her organs? Made them youthful again. Perhaps there's some failing within her body that keeps Charlotte in this sleeping sickness."
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
