Meaning & use
insomnia
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Meaning
noununcountablemedical
A continuing condition in which a person has great trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, even when tired.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural: 'She suffers from insomnia,' not 'an insomnia.'
Patterns
- suffer from insomnia
- have insomnia
- insomnia affects someone
After weeks of insomnia, he finally went to see a doctor.
Stress at work often causes insomnia in people who normally sleep well.
Her insomnia got worse during the exam period, and she could barely stay awake in class.
Common combinations
- chronic insomnia
- Chronic insomnia can affect your mood and concentration.
- suffer from insomnia
- Many shift workers suffer from insomnia.
- a bout of insomnia
- A bout of insomnia kept her up for three nights.
- insomnia treatment
- The clinic offers insomnia treatment based on sleep habits.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sleeplessness
- A more general word for not sleeping; it can describe one bad night, while insomnia usually suggests a lasting problem.
Word family
Commonly confused: insomnia or sleepiness?
insomnia vs sleepiness
Sleepiness means feeling tired and ready to sleep; insomnia means being unable to sleep even when you feel that way.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'insomnia' correctly.
Choose one answer.
'Insomnia' is an uncountable medical noun for an ongoing sleep problem, so 'Insomnia can make it hard...' is correct. Option A wrongly treats it as countable and suggests a single night; B and D confuse it with a medicine.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “insomnia”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.