overslept
Definition
- Verb (past tense of ):
- To sleep beyond the intended waking time: "overslept" means to have slept longer than planned, resulting in being late for an appointment or obligation.
- To fail to wake up at the correct time: This implies an unintentional extension of sleep, often due to an alarm not sounding or exhaustion.
Usage Examples
- (I slept longer than I intended and was late.)
- (She failed to wake up at the correct time due to a malfunctioning alarm.)
- (He slept beyond the planned waking time, causing lateness.)
Advanced Usage
"to have overslept": used to emphasize the completed action and its consequences.
- By the time I realized I had overslept, the exam was already over. (The action of sleeping too long had already occurred and led to missing the exam.)
"overslept badly": to have slept far beyond the intended time.
- She overslept badly and didn't wake up until noon. (She slept excessively long past her planned waking time.)
Variants and Related Words
Oversleep (verb, base form): to sleep beyond the intended time.
- If you don't set an alarm, you might oversleep. (You might sleep too long.)
Oversleeping (gerund/present participle): the act of sleeping too long.
- Oversleeping can lead to a rushed and stressful morning. (The act of sleeping beyond the intended time.)
Synonyms
Slept in: to sleep longer than usual, often intentionally on a day off.
- I slept in on Saturday until 10 AM. (I stayed in bed longer than usual.)
Missed the alarm: a phrase meaning to not wake up when the alarm sounded.
- He missed the alarm and overslept. (He failed to hear or respond to the alarm.)
Related Idioms
Sleep through the alarm: to fail to wake up when the alarm sounds.
- She slept through the alarm and overslept. (She did not wake up despite the alarm ringing.)
Wake up on the wrong side of the bed: to be in a bad mood upon waking, sometimes associated with oversleeping.
- He overslept and woke up on the wrong side of the bed. (He was irritable because he slept too long.)