sleep-walker

A sleep-walker walks slowly down a hallway at night.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who walks or performs other actions while asleep, typically without conscious awareness or memory of the event. This condition is medically known as somnambulism.

Usage Examples

• (A person performing actions while asleep.)
• (A person with somnambulism.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be a sleep-walker": to habitually walk or engage in activities during sleep.

  • He has been a sleep-walker since childhood, often moving furniture in his sleep. (He regularly experiences somnambulism.)

• "sleep-walker's trance": a state resembling sleepwalking, often used metaphorically.

  • She moved through her daily routine like a sleep-walker, unaware of her surroundings. (She acted mechanically, without full consciousness.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sleepwalk (verb): to walk or perform actions while asleep.

  • He tends to sleepwalk when under stress. (He experiences somnambulism.)

• Sleepwalking (noun): the act or condition of walking while asleep.

  • Sleepwalking is more common in children than in adults. (The condition of somnambulism.)

Synonyms

• Somnambulist: a person who walks in their sleep (formal medical term).
• Noctambulist: a person who walks at night, especially in sleep (rare).

Related Idioms

• "to walk in one's sleep": a descriptive phrase for sleepwalking.

  • She often walks in her sleep, but never remembers it in the morning. (She is a sleep-walker.)

• "to be a sleepwalker through life": to act without awareness or purpose.

  • He was a sleepwalker through life, never making conscious decisions. (He lived passively or mechanically.)