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sleepwalker

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

noun

  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.


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.

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

“Like a sleepwalker jolted awake,” Merriman writes, “it’s as though Siegfried had looked back at everything he’d done and didn’t like what he’d seen.”

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2021

“All around hangs a slumber upon these halls, and things as yet unfathomed still occur,” the Fraulein intones like a sleepwalker.

From The Guardian • Jun. 19, 2020

But I kept close pace with her every step, eagerly watching for our sleepwalker.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan