Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Sleeplessness; inability to sleep, especially when chronic.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Lack of sleep; inability to sleep, especially when chronic; wakefulness; sleeplessness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sleeping disorder that is known for its symptoms of unrest and the inability to sleep.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an inability to sleep; chronic sleeplessness

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin īnsomnia, from īnsomnis, sleepless : in-, not; see in– + somnus, sleep; see swep- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin in- + somnus + -ia

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Examples

Comments

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  • I should move to some Pacific island. I share their time zone already. :-(

    June 23, 2008

  • You'll have to learn to talk through the side of your mouth so the flies don't get in.

    June 23, 2008

  • Hang on. In the comment to which I responded you were applying for honorary citizenship of Australia. Have you abandoned us so soon? It was all the poisonous snakes, wasn't it?

    June 23, 2008

  • The snakes, and the fact that I will supposedly be able to sleep in a couple of hours, and I'm not sure you will. :-)

    June 23, 2008

  • Anyway, I'll practice side-talking.

    June 23, 2008

  • Oh, it's tea time (9 pm).

    June 24, 2008

  • How about Galapagos?

    June 24, 2008

  • I'll think about that and let you know in five hours.

    June 24, 2008

  • Try counting giant turtles.

    June 24, 2008

  • I might go to the grocery later. (12.15 am)

    June 24, 2008

  • And here I am at the grocery (1.05 am). I bought camomile.

    June 24, 2008

  • Pro - Sorry about the sleep troubles -- they suck. If you want some advice, let me know.

    June 24, 2008

  • Thank you, dontcry*. I'm trying the other way now - having two dinners might make me sleepy - and, well, fat.

    *I will never call you dc.

    June 25, 2008

  • I was shattered when Rosa nel Pugno changed their name from Rose in the Fist to Socialists and Radicals. A tragedy.

    After an election in 2006 I picked up discarded RnP posters and decorated my room with Rose in the Fist logos. It wasn't a political statement. I just liked having anonymous hands offering me roses every way I turned.

    June 25, 2008

  • Thank you, Pro! Sweet dreams! I'm off to my slumber bed right now (we're early to bed/early to rise here on the porch!).

    June 25, 2008

  • dontcry, what better place for sleep nostrums than this page? Do share!

    Though I worry for Wordie if we manage to cure insomnia.

    June 25, 2008

  • Don't wordieworry, Asa.

    June 25, 2008

  • Hey, I think I saw Sandman outside my window (not sure). Goodnight to everybody.

    June 25, 2008

  • It was just mollusque listing sendimanou, an Aztec panvocalic that refers to a medicinal powder made from dried and ground llama snot.

    June 25, 2008

  • Sendimanou is good for treating insomnia, but has unfortunate mucogenital side-effects.

    June 25, 2008

  • Oh, llama snot? They use it in Liechtenstein, too.

    (See alpaca)

    June 25, 2008

  • Licked what?

    June 25, 2008

  • Asa, since you asked :-). I discovered some time ago that insomnia is a vicious cycle that feeds on itself and will drive you insane! It takes a while to break it's grip on you, but it can be done with a routine. Here's mine:

    We expect our bodies & minds to go, go, go all day and then come to a screeching halt when it's time to hurry up and sleep. Bad idea. Most of us don't pop out of bed in the morning and immediately begin working. We need time to "wake up." We slowly get out of bed, have something to eat and drink, bathe, dress, polish up a bit. Then we're ready to take on the world. Ending the day should have the same routine.

    Ideally, you should prepare for sleep and hour or two before getting into bed. Slow down your activities. No eating or exercising. No troubling or stimulating conversations. No dramatic/violent TV shows. Dim the lights throughout the house. Maybe take a warm bath. Take a leisurely walk to get some night air, if it's refreshing. Reading is good, but don't take it to bed. Slow your body and mind down so they will be receptive to sleep. This is a great routine, especially if you have small children in the home. I call it "settle down time."

    Bed is for sleeping, not for finishing up tasks of the day. If you treat your bed as a safe harbor, reserved only for sleeping, soon you will feel sleepy just getting into bed. Sleep/bed is your reward after a long hard day. Keep the bedroom tidy, organized and basically a pleasant place to be. Clean and fresh bed linens and clothes make getting into bed so much nicer!

    It's important to prepare your body for rest too. Lay off the coffee, tea and soda (even the decaf) after mid-day. Nothing to eat 2-3 hours before bedtime. Keep bedroom very dark and cool. I know it's hard, but try to reserve this time for thinking pleasant thoughts only -- make it a rule. Sweet dreams!

    June 25, 2008

  • Lay off the coffee, tea and soda (even the decaf) after mid-day.

    How am I supposed to work after lunch, then?

    Nothing to eat 2-3 hours before bedtime.

    Define bedtime.

    Keep bedroom very dark and cool.

    In New York? Without curtains?

    June 25, 2008

  • Pro, you are arguing every point. That's too NY for a start.

    If you have a natural dip in energy after lunch, please define. You are in the zone for a nap that meets modern ling requirements.

    June 25, 2008

  • The standard of ling ain't what it used to be.

    June 25, 2008

  • Crap! I was hoping for dontcry to reply first! (ready to give 20)

    June 25, 2008

  • Sorry, Pro, long lunch....but not heavy!

    First of all, do you want to sleep or not? Don't be such a baby bunny.

    Have a lighter lunch and drink water. Walk around if you feel sleepy. Your body will get used to it, I promise. NO napping -- it will throw off your body clock and undo all your hard work.

    Bedtime is when you get into the bed and want to sleep -- at night. Bedtime is not worktime in a bed.

    Buy curtains. (Ideally, leave NYC...)

    Try to think a little bit more on the positive side.

    ;-)

    June 26, 2008

  • I will practice, but I don't bet on the last one. :-)

    June 26, 2008

  • No napping??? This baby bunny is tearing up as she types!

    June 26, 2008

  • I'm a fan of the napping. You just can't sleep too long.

    June 26, 2008

  • Napping is for babies and really, really old people. And dogs and some cats. Sick people can nap and Santa can nap, in the off season. New mothers and fathers can nap when their babies nap. Umm, bears nap a lot and that's ok because it means they're not out eating people. Same goes for crocodiles.

    I'm late for a meeting. Point is, unless you are a baby, really, really old, a dog or some type of cat, sick, Santa, a new parent, a bear or a crocodile, napping is straight OUT! It's ESPECIALLY OUT if you suffer from INSOMNIA!!

    Sharks never sleep, but if they did, they could nap as well.

    June 26, 2008

  • Meditation helps also & may even make up for lost sleep.

    Worrying about not sleeping can keep you awake. It helps me to accept the fact that on a particular night I'm just not going to get much sleep (especially the Sunday night before work), but I'll make up for it somewhere down the line.

    June 26, 2008

  • I can't believe napping is out at The Porch. This is seriously bad news. I may have to redirect Hammock Installation Team.

    June 26, 2008

  • Sometimes I have the feeling dontcry adopted us all.

    June 26, 2008

  • Listen, if Pro gets his insomnia under control, he can come and nap on The Porch. I even have a hammock, just off The Porch, strung between two 100-year-old oaks -- no kidding (sometimes I even wonder if I'm for real...).

    But first things first. When we're good with sleeping at night, we can play around with the whole napping concept.

    Now it's getting late, so it's "settle down time." You know what to do.

    June 26, 2008

  • I'm not sure I know what to do & I'll probably be awake all night tonight worrying about it.

    June 26, 2008

  • I knew what to do, and I did it.

    June 26, 2008

  • Could you guys please keep it down in here? I'm trying to sleep!

    Oh, never mind. I'll take a nap tomorrow on the porch. *yawn*

    June 26, 2008

  • O sleep, o gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, that thou no more wilt weigh my eye-lids down and steep my senses in forgetfulness?

    (W. Shakespeare)

    June 26, 2008

  • The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.

    (Leonard Cohen)

    June 26, 2008

  • You could try changing your nick to Prozac. Then we could keep calling you Pro.

    June 26, 2008

  • Maybe I could quit formaggio at this time of the night...

    June 26, 2008

  • Don't quit cheese - it just makes sleep more fun when it comes.

    June 26, 2008

  • Chuck Norris never sleeps, but if he did, he could nap as well.

    June 26, 2008

  • Quit cheese? But how?

    Poor Pro. I occasionally share your insomnia, so I'll gladly count giant turtles with you. :-)

    *waiting for c_b to show up from her nap, since it's okay for bears to do so*

    June 26, 2008

  • I agree: quitting cheese is just not an option I will consider.

    June 26, 2008

  • Ssshhhh...I think he's sleeping.

    June 26, 2008

  • "I'm wide awake, it's morning". I just meant I was adding words to my formaggio list. :-)

    Welcome back, SoG!

    June 26, 2008

  • I second that--long time no Wordie, SoG!

    June 26, 2008

  • OK, let's try. I'll go to bed now. Just for dontcry.

    June 27, 2008

  • Please, hit me with something heavy.

    June 28, 2008

  • I suspect most serial killers were just insomniacs.

    June 28, 2008

  • Considering that they killed people, I'd suspect unjust insomniacs.

    June 28, 2008

  • OK, I think you beat me again, Pro. I'm going to sleep. (Not that it should be a competition!)

    June 28, 2008

  • Goodnight. I will go on killing. Time.

    June 28, 2008

  • Well, I'm off to bed, and I'm three hours behind you. But I will probably be up at least four hours before you. Sweet dreams, yarb.

    June 28, 2008

  • Hello everybody.

    June 29, 2008

  • I think it's just you and me, Pro.

    June 29, 2008

  • Oh well, good enough. How's life?

    June 29, 2008

  • Hello, boys. How's the city that never etc?

    June 29, 2008

  • Awake.

    June 29, 2008

  • Stingray.

    June 29, 2008

  • What did Ray ever do to you?

    June 29, 2008

  • Last night I dreamed I had insomnia. I woke up exhausted, yet too well rested to go back to sleep.

    (Bob Ingman)

    June 30, 2008

  • Goodnight guys (not many women during American nights, did you notice?). Have fun.

    June 30, 2008

  • Rough day for dontcry -- had a bird funeral. *sniff*

    Thankfully it's settle down time, so off goes the computer, down go the lights, out comes a book. Not long before bedtime. Ahhhh.

    Put down the cheese, Pro, and dim the lights. Sweet dreams.

    July 1, 2008

  • I'll do it right now - dim the lights, I mean.

    Nighty night.

    July 1, 2008

  • No! Poor dontcry, and poor birdie! My sympathies. :-( But I'm sure the little thing had a good life with you as its caretaker.

    I had a bird funeral myself a few months ago, but now I'm happy to say I'm preparing for a baby bird to fledge. Life gets better. :-)

    July 1, 2008

  • Longest night ever.

    July 6, 2008

  • OK, let's try to sleep.

    July 8, 2008

  • Apparently I'm turning into Pro.

    I need to get up in three and a half hours.

    July 28, 2008

  • Oh no, it's happening to me!

    August 11, 2008

  • I have the world's longest weekend ahead of me. I need to go to sleep. *attempts to knock self out with heavy folder*

    August 14, 2008

  • Wordie. The insomniac's delight.

    August 17, 2008

  • It's good to have Australian Wordies.

    August 24, 2008

  • *singing*

    Sir all I want is a chance to amend

    Past infidelities please do not send

    Me far away from my wise

    Me far away from my wiiise

    Me far away from my wiiiiise

    Señorita...

    September 5, 2008

  • Hmm, what to do? I could a) go to bed and have a 70/30 chance of laying awake pretending/wishing it were possible for me to sleep before at least two a.m. or b) watch another episode of Doctor Who on youtube.

    A friend of mine is having me do a sleep log for her psychology class. I should be able to give her some interesting results.

    September 8, 2008

  • Do you share a room with other people, pleth?

    September 8, 2008

  • Grr. Still awake. Ah well, will traipse off to bed with Anna Karenina – there's nothing like a Russian novel chock-full of patronymics for the full soporific effect.

    September 8, 2008

  • Is Australia moving westbound westward?

    September 8, 2008

  • Not sure. My knowledge of tectonic plate movements is a bit hazy. Perhaps we only move westwards at night, and maybe this is why I often get my best work done after pumpkin hour.

    September 8, 2008

  • Not these days, Pro. The greatest privilege of year 12 is having to share only a bathroom and with just one person. And although my bathroommate is a slob who occasionally locks me out and always leaves the light on, it's worth it for the 2am Doctor Who and homework sessions.

    As for whether we're moving, westward or otherwise, I have no authority to speak on the matter.

    I am actually going to bed now. I have a Chem test in the morning.

    September 8, 2008

  • Last time I checked the clock, it was half past eleven!

    September 11, 2008

  • It was, in my opinion, 3 1/2 hours ago.

    September 12, 2008

  • I don't know if I can call "insomnia" having so much to do that I work until late night (although I can't get anything done when I work until late).

    Damn applications.

    December 15, 2008

  • The good thing today is that the less I sleep tonight, the more I'll sleep on the airplane this afternoon. Very important, since I'll be in Italy at 7 am local time, so I will have a whole day to face...

    December 18, 2008

  • Safe trip! Enjoy! :-D

    December 19, 2008

  • I haven't been here for a while - not since I had a lot of homework to do and many episodes of Doctor Who unwatched.

    Wordie has been quiet tonight.

    I probably have to be up early in the morning, despite it being Sunday, so I'm going to bed now.

    January 11, 2009

  • Sweet dreams, pleth.

    January 11, 2009

  • Sigh.

    February 21, 2009

  • You would think that, having been sick for a week, all I would be able to do is sleep. But I just cannot make my brain shut down.

    February 22, 2009

  • How is this for extreme insomnia?

    March 5, 2009

  • I've joined the club, 4:39 am.

    March 14, 2009

  • It's not that late. But I know that, due to many things, chances of sleep tonight are slim to none.

    Still, this is the first time in a long while that I can actually pinpoint the cause of the insomnia. That's good, right?

    March 16, 2009

  • Sorry to read that, plethorette. Here in Italy it's 4 am, and I woke up. I feel like I won't be able to sleep again.

    It's weird. After 16 months in NYC, I have just come back to Sardinia, where I'll stay until late August. Until a couple of months ago, this is what I would have wanted the most. Now, after I have been accepted into a PhD program there, I had to return to Italy since my visa has expired; but suddenly, being at my parents' place is not being home anymore.

    Staying four months here will probably lead to a double culture crash: one in a few days, and one in August, again.

    April 13, 2009

  • Hi Pro!

    it's 4:31 am here, and I can't sleep either.

    Did you get my Flickr e-mail?

    April 13, 2009

  • Why do bad thoughts reach you even when you are on vacation?

    May 16, 2009

  • Bad thoughts again.

    Having been back in Sardinia since Easter, I can now see what New York can't give me, and what it means to live surrounded by your people.

    May 24, 2009

  • Oddly, when I'm in Australia I never feel surrounded by my people.

    May 24, 2009

  • Where do you feel at home, bilby?

    May 24, 2009

  • Good question. Nowhere. What's home supposed to feel like anyway?

    May 24, 2009

  • Insomnia... what a liar of a word, with its multiple vowels, its nasal consonants. It doesn't sound as bad as it is at all.

    You talk to people about your insomnia, and they are all sweetness and care about it - but you can't shake the feeling that they associate the deep dark night with romance and excitement.. and that silky name, insomnia; it can't be as bad as hemorrhoids with such a name!

    I propose, therefore, that we change the insomnia to a name that is appropriately irritating khuhlkhutscheu.

    This night was over before it began.

    May 24, 2009

  • Pro, I feel for you, and at the same time I'm envious. Having moved too many times, the very notion of being able to call anyone my people seems fantastic. It sounds like a gift you'll always have, wherever you live.

    I spent 7 years in New York and know what an alienating place it can be, even if you love it. I hope you find some peace while you struggle with the tension between roots and opportunity.

    May 25, 2009

  • Kde domov můj? I've adapted that from a rhetorical patriotic question into a sort of a motto for life.

    May 25, 2009

  • That reminds me of Anna Akhmatova's poem, "The Cellar of Memory" (Подвал памяти, 1940), which concludes:

                                       Well, let's go home!

    But where's my home and where's my reason?

                                          Ну, идем домой!

    Но где мой дом и где рассудок мой?

    (A note for clarity: "reason" here means the capacity for rational thought, not "a reason to do something.")

    May 25, 2009

  • At some point, many years ago, I gave up being the tortured artist/academic and decided that home was wherever I happened to be. Smooth sailing since then.

    May 25, 2009

  • Thank you, Wordies, for your kind words. Tonight I feel a bit sleepy, so I will try to go to sleep before bad thoughts reach me.

    May 26, 2009

  • Skipvia. :)

    Bilby: That is because you are a bilby.

    May 26, 2009

  • Humph.

    June 1, 2009

  • A little warm milch, perhaps, Pro?

    OVALTINE!

    June 1, 2009

  • Not a bad idea, but where do I find Ovaltine at 2 am in Italy? The nearest open grocery is OpenCor, in Spain.

    June 1, 2009

  • A quick trip to Spain sounds wonderful, if somewhat impractical. Quick trips from Alaska to anywhere are non-existent. I'm jealous.

    Wish I could help, Pro. At least, when you're awake, I get to read your much appreciated contributions to Wordie.

    June 1, 2009

  • Happy to mail Pro some OVALTINE. *whinnies*

    June 1, 2009

  • *sighs*

    June 7, 2009

  • *runs in late*

    Pro, my homesickness will probably never be as bad as yours, but I understand where you're coming from. I don't even like my hometown that much, but I know that there will always be a connection between me and those people. There are places, foods, events and pubs that I could make reference to and every one of those 20,000 people would automatically know what I was talking about. I could never go back and live there, but I do miss that. I'm going back in September for my uncle's birthday and I'm already looking forward to it. It will have been a year between visits. I still think of it in my head as "going home", even though I love the city I'm in now.

    I have similar feelings about boarding school.

    /ramble

    June 7, 2009

  • I bought a collection of Anna Akhmatova's poetry the other day, solely on the recollection of this conversation. It doesn't appear to have The Cellar of Memory, though.

    September 1, 2009

  • I'm very sleepy, tonight, but I don't feel like turning the lights and my computer off. Why? Because tomorrow is Tomorrow. First day as a PhD student.

    Who knows if it was a wise choice...

    September 1, 2009

  • Let tomorrow answer you. 'night Pro.

    September 1, 2009

  • Good luck and good night, Pro.

    September 1, 2009

  • Pro, you'll handle it like a Pro, I'm sure.

    Good sleep to the future Dr. Prolagus.

    September 1, 2009

  • 03:37am

    The last two weeks have been the worst I've had in a while. It's like being in year 12 again.

    Thank Jebus you are all here to amuse me.

    May 7, 2010

  • Glad you're here too, plethora.

    May 7, 2010

  • 01:15 am

    Sipping some chamomile-and-some-other-grass infusion. It's not even about not being able to sleep... More like not feeling like trying.

    And it's been almost two weeks now.

    September 7, 2010

  • 01:20 am

    ...

    November 4, 2010

  • Edit: it's been three months now.

    November 22, 2010

  • I'm here too, Pro....

    November 22, 2010

  • 5:26 am...

    November 22, 2010

  • I made a decision, and after all this time I will see a doctor, for insomnia and other stuff (a good part of which has been discussed on this page). Good luck to me.

    November 28, 2010

  • Good for you, Pro. Good night, and good luck.

    November 28, 2010

  • *prays for Pro's mind to rest*

    November 28, 2010

  • Good luck, Pro!

    November 30, 2010

  • 2:25 AM

    ...

    February 20, 2011

  • (3:45 AM)

    I can't sleep.

    I CAN'T SLEEP!

    May 21, 2011

  • Hi, Pro. Did you get any sleep?

    May 21, 2011

  • I slept from midnight to 2, then awake until 5. Uffa.

    May 21, 2011

  • What if I'm just going crazy?

    Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to start reading "Ender's game".

    June 9, 2011

  • What's "Ender's game", Pro?

    June 9, 2011

  • An amazing and cruel book about war, peace, childhood, happiness and everything else.

    June 9, 2011

  • Sort of like War and Peace or Vasily Grossman's incredible Life and Fate about the Battle of Stalingrad?

    June 9, 2011

  • Maybe a nice comic book instead.... ;-)

    June 9, 2011

  • You could always try The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

    June 9, 2011

  • That is a good book. :-)

    June 9, 2011

  • This is amazing; I was just thinking about how I couldn't sleep last night, and then I look at the sidebar...

    June 15, 2011

  • It's not amazing...

    June 15, 2011

  • 1:08 a.m. *looks around to see who else is awake now*

    October 19, 2011

  • 2:35

    I am.

    December 4, 2011

  • 4:32.

    February 18, 2015

  • It's very interesting looking back on this thread and recognising the symptoms of my long-term mental health problems.

    Funny thing is, treating my depression treated my insomnia, and then I changed medications and the new stuff causes worse insomnia than ever.

    December 26, 2017