somnambulate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of somnambulate
First recorded in 1825–35; somn(i-) ( def. ) + ambulate
Explanation
If you've been known to raid the cookie jar in the middle of the night, down a few cookies, then climb back into bed without remembering a thing, then you somnambulate — you walk in your sleep. When you somnambulate, your body's on autopilot. Your eyes are open and you look like you're awake, but you’re really sleeping. Somnambulate is a wonderful word, and you may recognize the Latin roots: somnus, "sleep," as in somniferous, “something putting you to sleep,” somnolent, “sleepy, or making you sleepy,” and Sominex, the brand name of a sleeping pill. Ambulare means "to walk," as in amble, “to stroll,” and "ambulance" the vehicle that gets you to the hospital.
Vocabulary lists containing somnambulate
Walk the Walk: Amb
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25 Ways of Walking
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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:
And so let him somnambulate yonder, till the two Queens, like winged Psyches, one after the other, manage to emerge from him.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 10 by Carlyle, Thomas
"I'm a somnambulist, only I somnambulate faster than most people."
From Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate by Turley, Charles
Their vigil was rewarded when the complainant appeared in his nightgown, milked his own cows, threw the milk to his sleeping pigs, somnambulated back to bed.
From Time Magazine Archive
I had an uncle that somnambulated, and he used to hide the sheets in an old carriage in the barn.
From Teddy: Her Book A Story of Sweet Sixteen by George, Vesper L.
Salvador Dali still led the somnambulating flock, with pictures brilliant, boneless and as bland as the fried eggs he claims to have seen while he was still in his mother's womb.
From Time Magazine Archive
Poor down-pressed brother mortal; somnambulating so pacifically in Sleepy Hollow yonder, and making no complaint!
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 10 by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
