sleeplessadj.
/ˈsliːplɪs/ 1. Deprived of sleep; unable to sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > [adjective] > wakeful or sleepless > unable to sleep
sleepless1412
insomnious1658
wakeful1676
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 3546 To Medea he hath þe weye take, And sche abood sleples for his sake.
1483 Cath. Angl. 344/2 Sleples, exsompnis.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) 83 The body still away sleples it weris.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxxvii. 20 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 103 Whole troupes of busy cares..Tooke vp their restlesse rest In sleepie sleeplesse eies.
1694 T. Ken Morning & Evening-Hymn in New-Year's Gift 113 When in the Night I sleepless lie.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 19 Which Thou and I alone..Behold with sleepless eyes.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xliii. 390 He lay all that night sleepless, and yearning to go home.
1888 T. W. Allies Holy See 83 The monks, called from their never intermitted worship, the Sleepless.
2. Yielding no sleep; marked by the absence or want of sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > [adjective] > wakeful or sleepless
wakrong1340
wakya1542
watchful1548
wakeful1549
vigilant1620
sleepless1633
waking1690
unslumbering1718
unslumbrous1818
slumberless1820
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island i. xxvi. 7 That they may..couch their head In soft, but sleeplesse down.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 12 We had a sleepless night of it.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. x. 341 She started from a sleepless pillow to welcome the day.
1815 Ld. Byron My Soul is Dark ii It hath been by sorrow nursed, And ach'd in sleepless silence long.
1864 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia IV. xvii. vii. 595 The Old Inn, hospitable though sleepless, stands pleasantly upon the River brink.
1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter II. 38 A sleepless night shed the sober light of reason upon those clouds of sentiment.
3.
a. Continually active or operative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > [adjective] > continuously
sleepless1792
the world > action or operation > continuing > [adjective] > continually in action or operation
wakeful1697
sleepless1792
unslumbering1862
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. i. 194 Oh mark the sleepless energies of thought.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound i. i. 32 [I] thus devote to sleepless agony, This undeclining head.
1848 ‘L. Mariotti’ Italy Past & Present I. p. xxv Thought remained anxious, sleepless, rebellious.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. Introd. 16 The quivering nerves of a sleepless memory.
b. Unceasing in motion; ever-moving.
ΚΠ
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. xiv. 15 Winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion ix. 397 The sleepless Ocean murmurs for all ears. View more context for this quotation
a1822 P. B. Shelley To E. Williams vi The sleepless billows on the ocean's breast.
4. Used punningly: (see quot. 1864 and sleepy adj. 1c).
ΚΠ
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) Sleepless-hats, those of a napless character, better known as wide-awakes.
Derivatives
ˈsleeplessly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > [adverb] > sleeplessly
sleeplessly1847
1847 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1896 Daily News 4 Jan. 5/3 He sleeplessly guards his maize during the whole night.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1412