somnambulist

American  

[som-nam-byuh-list, suhm-] / sɒmˈnæm byəˌlɪst, səm- /

noun

1. a person who walks around, eats, or performs other motor acts while asleep; sleepwalker.

   I have slept on the march like a somnambulist, and I have slept standing up like a horse.

2. a person who seems to act without awareness, feeling, aim, or will.

   Most people go through much of their lives as somnambulists, unaware of themselves and unquestioning of their environment.

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Other Word Forms

• semisomnambulistic
  adjective
• somnambulistic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of somnambulist

First recorded in 1780–90; somn- ( def. ) + Latin ambul- ( see amble ( def. )) + -ist ( def. )

Explanation

If you ever find yourself standing in the backyard in your pajamas at 4:00 in the morning and wondering how you got there, you may be a somnambulist — someone who walks in her sleep. In Roman mythology, Somnus was the god of sleep; the Greeks called him Hypnos. His mother was Night (Nix) and his brother was Death (Thanatos). He lived in a dark cave and presumably never had to get up in time for school.

Example Sentences

The art on view, however, is no whirlwind tour of America’s expansive creative landscape but a somnambulist slog.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

The somnambulist provided an early role for Conrad Veidt, the German officer in Casablanca.

From The Guardian • Sep. 25, 2020

While Coons went down on inadvertent, Murphy got dinged on somnambulist and Flake did not survive malfeasance, Kaine whirled through the rounds and made time for stealing journalists’ glasses.

From Time • Jul. 28, 2016

She sang, I wrote then, “with creamy strength and authority. Lively even when asked to walk like a somnambulist, she sounded plummy and penetrating.”

From New York Times • Jul. 8, 2015

Because somnambulist was going to be in my next vocabulary lesson, I just knew it.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan