sleepless
Americanadjective
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without sleep.
a sleepless night.
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watchful; alert.
sleepless devotion to duty.
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always active.
the sleepless ocean.
adjective
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without sleep or rest
a sleepless journey
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unable to sleep
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always watchful or alert
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poetic always active or moving
the sleepless tides
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sleepless
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at sleep, -less
Explanation
If something is sleepless, it's wakeful or restless, like a sleepless night spent in an unfamiliar house listening to spooky noises. You might be sleepless the night before an exciting trip, or sleepless in your sleeping bag because the ground feels cold and hard beneath you. Whenever sleep won't come—because of worry, excitement, or discomfort—you can describe yourself (and the night) as sleepless. It's used in a literary way as well, to mean "restless" or "constantly moving," like a sleepless willow tree swaying in the breeze.
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.
Another more direct influence was the 2016 Polish film “All These Sleepless Nights,” a so-called docufiction about a friendship between two young men on the Warsaw party scene.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2025
Weaving history, scientific research on brain chemistry and Abbs-Streets's own personal nocturnal explorations, "Sleepless" is uniquely engaging and hopeful account of a condition that is more typically a truly miserable experience.
From Salon • Feb. 6, 2024
Sleepless and anxious, Ms. Jones took a medical leave, then passed out and suffered a concussion.
From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2023
Meg Ryan, the actor who charmed audiences in "Sleepless in Seattle," "When Harry Met Sally" and "You've Got Mail," is returning to the big screen in a romantic comedy she also wrote, directed and produced.
From Reuters • Nov. 9, 2023
He knows something’s up, like when Feather could tell we were going to have that one, famous Pittsburgh tornado, and kept knocking Mom’s Sleepless in Seattle commemorative plates off the wall with his tail.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
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.
