sleep-deprived

Meaning

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Not getting enough sleep, so that you feel very tired and find it hard to think clearly.

   Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a verb: a sleep-deprived student, or she is sleep-deprived.

   Patterns

   • be sleep-deprived
   • a sleep-deprived person

   The new parents were sleep-deprived and could barely follow the conversation.

   Sleep-deprived drivers cause many accidents.

   I am so sleep-deprived after exams that I forgot my own phone number.

Word forms

Common combinations

chronically sleep-deprived

Many teenagers are chronically sleep-deprived.

severely sleep-deprived

He was severely sleep-deprived after the night shift.

sleep-deprived parents

Sleep-deprived parents often rely on coffee.

feel sleep-deprived

I feel sleep-deprived after traveling across time zones.

sleep-deprived brain

A sleep-deprived brain struggles to make decisions.

Synonyms and how they differ

exhausted

Exhausted describes how tired you feel at that moment, while sleep-deprived points to the cause, a lack of sleep.

overtired

Overtired suggests being so tired that you cannot relax, often used for children, and does not always mean a lack of sleep.

sleepy

Sleepy only means wanting to sleep, so it is milder than sleep-deprived.

worn out

Worn out can be caused by any effort, not only lack of sleep.

Opposites

Word family

sleep deprivation noun

the condition of not getting enough sleep

deprive verb

to take something away from someone

deprived adjective

lacking something needed

sleeplessness noun

the state of being unable to sleep

Commonly confused: sleep-deprived or depraved?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sleep-deprived”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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