Meaning & use
jet lag
Last updated
UK/ˈdʒɛt læɡ/
US/ˈdʒɛt læɡ/
Meaning
noununcountable
The tiredness and confusion about sleep that people feel after flying across several time zones.
Grammar: Uncountable: I have jet lag, not I have a jet lag.
Patterns
- suffer from jet lag
- get over jet lag
I was too tired from jet lag to enjoy my first day in Tokyo.
She tried to beat jet lag by staying awake until bedtime local time.
Jet lag usually feels worse when you fly east.
Common combinations
- suffer from jet lag
- Many travelers suffer from jet lag after flying to Asia.
- get over jet lag
- It took me three days to get over jet lag.
- beat jet lag
- Drinking water may help beat jet lag.
- severe jet lag
- He had severe jet lag and slept for twelve hours.
- avoid jet lag
- They tried to avoid jet lag by adjusting their sleep before the trip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- time-zone fatigue
- Time-zone fatigue is a plain descriptive phrase, whereas jet lag is the standard everyday name.
- circadian disruption
- Circadian disruption is a scientific term for the body clock being thrown off and is far more technical.
- travel fatigue
- Travel fatigue is tiredness from any journey, even without crossing time zones.
Word family
- jet noun
- a fast aircraft
- lag verb
- to fall behind
- jet-lagged adjective
- suffering from jet lag
Commonly confused: jet lag or culture shock?
jet lag vs culture shock
Culture shock is confusion in an unfamiliar society, whereas jet lag is tiredness from time changes.
Practice
Which trip is most likely to cause jet lag?
Choose one answer.
Jet lag results from crossing many time zones by plane. The other options do not change your body clock.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jet lag”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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