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sleepwalker

American  
[sleep-waw-ker] / ˈslipˌwɔ kər /

noun

  • sleepwalkers
    plural
  1. a person who walks, eats, or performs other motor acts while asleep and is unaware of doing so upon awakening; a person with a disorder characterized by this.

    A sleepwalker may do something that could cause injury, such as climbing out of a window or walking into objects.

  2. a person who acts seemingly without awareness, feeling, aim, or will.

    My parents were sleepwalkers, moving about their world as if oblivious to it and to themselves.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of sleepwalker

sleep + walker

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:

I go outside in my pajamas like a sleepwalker to retrieve my L.A.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 30, 2023

“Like a sleepwalker … I know what I have to do,” Crimo narrated in another rap video posted late last year.

From Seattle Times Jul. 7, 2022

Let’s hope he was allowed to wander back to the locker room without interruption, as waking a sleepwalker can be very dangerous.

From Slate May 4, 2019

The suspenseful tale centers on the death of one of those blondes, 47-year-old Annalee Ahlberg, an architect, mother of two and a chronic sleepwalker.

From Washington Post Dec. 25, 2016

Jerry walked to the bus like a sleepwalker.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

The methodical steps toward war took on a life of their own, moving us like sleepwalkers towards disaster.

From Salon Feb. 26, 2022

This is especially true as the artist’s attempts to wake up the sleepwalkers of society have grown into complex and organized activities, involving dozens of bodies working in physical harmony.

From The New Yorker Nov. 22, 2019

“Yeah, I think being delirious is probably a part of it,” catcher Jonathan Lucroy said of team’s transition from sleepwalkers to mashers in the seventh.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 19, 2019

These suburban sleepwalkers, unsatisfied by their comfortable lives and digital toys, awaken from their malaise by taking a walk on the wild side.

From Seattle Times Jun. 6, 2018

Somewhere in that direction is Schulpforta with its dark spires, its bed wetters and sleepwalkers and bullies.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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