sleepwalk
Americanverb (used without object)
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:
They could sleepwalk their way through the first three quarters and still pull it out in the end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
Virginia transfer Cofie had just four points in the first half as Rice and Jaden Brownell led the charge during a first half the Trojans seemed to sleepwalk through at times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025
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
Unfortunately, this theory would also retroactively outlaw choreograph, diagnose, resurrect, edit, sculpt, sleepwalk, and hundreds of other verbs that have become completely unexceptionable.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
When Lady Macbeth sleepwalks into her culpable death, the most moving aspect is the gruff way her husband moves on with his business.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 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
Although Kendrick’s pint-size dynamo once pushed the Bellas beyond their la-la-la comfort zone, she basically sleepwalks through this third go-round.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 20, 2017
"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
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
When the inquiry met in Belfast last May she rejected suggestions the executive had "sleepwalked" during the pandemic.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
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
In a contest that started at 11:15 a.m. local time, Maryland sleepwalked through the first 10 minutes.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
Sourmelina, dreaming of chorus girls, had sleepwalked across the throw rug.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
When she sings "Let me wake up from this horrible dream", it sounds like she's sleepwalking.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 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
On a never-ending feed we watch the cute and profane, sleepwalking toward an emotional state beyond shock as entertainment: the banality of passive consumption.
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
Is Grandpop just sleepwalking, and sleeptalking, and sleepeating?
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
