ASLEEP Synonyms: 99 Similar and Opposite Words

asleep

adjective

ə-ˈslēp

Definition of asleep

as in sleeping

being in a state of suspended consciousness was sound asleep when the earthquake struck

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in numb

lacking in sensation or feeling after sitting cross-legged all afternoon, I arose only to discover that my right foot was asleep

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fallen

no longer living let us pray for those who are now asleep

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of asleep Sheriff’s deputies found Guttenbeil asleep with a gun in his lap behind a Eastern Avenue liquor store next to a car wash in the 4000 block of Marconi Avenue, according to the Sheriff’s Office. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2026 The truck driver was asleep inside the tractor-trailer when the suspects broke the seal on the vehicle and began removing the meat, according to Philadelphia police. — Frederick Sutton Sinclair, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026 The couple’s two daughters, then ages 11 and 9, were asleep in the next room. — Greg Evans, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026 But, the most entertaining and consequential ending of the night happened in a small town in Idaho while the rest of the college football watching world was likely asleep. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for asleep

Recent Examples of Synonyms for asleep

Adjective

An autopsy showed that the infant died from asphyxiation secondary to a co-sleeping/overlay event with an unsafe sleeping environment.

— Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 26 Feb. 2026

Definition of sleeping

Adjective

To live in truth here, now, today is to resist the forces that would like nothing more than to isolate, numb, and commodify us.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Halfway through my hands and feet went numb, then felt like fire, and then contorted into strange positions like lobster claws.

— Kate Berlant, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of numb

Adjective

While Kyiv and Moscow have maintained limited contact to organize prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers, previous talks have made no progress on the security arrangements needed to sustain a peace deal.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
When the men return from Sheriffmuir with the bodies of their fallen comrades, Colum has to grapple with his role in their deaths.

— Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of fallen

Adjective

That’s because when the body experiences physical stress, including losing weight quickly, more hairs can shift into a resting phase and fall out a few months later — typically two to three months after the event, Rossi explains.

— Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 17 Feb. 2026
This is a condition where, due to stress or hormonal changes, the body puts the hair follicles into a resting phase.

— Essence, Essence, 19 Dec. 2025

Definition of resting

Adjective

When Bill’s older brother Henry (Barry Ward) finds the pianist in numbed solitude in his dingy apartment, Bill has canceled all his upcoming gigs, saying Scotty cannot be replaced.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 Feb. 2026
Ingber also notes the numbed response to these strikes from much of the American public, something that, in part, may come from the routine nature of these drone strikes as something that the nation has become desensitized to dropping bombs on enemies.

— Rebecca Schneid, Time, 21 Oct. 2025

Definition of numbed

Adjective

Police said Sunday that a 65-year-old man was found dead on a sidewalk near an entrance to Disneyland in Anaheim.

— Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
The vehicle arrived at a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead, and another individual was critically injured, according to authorities.

— Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of dead

Adjective

In January, Sorrells created a cold case task force that is using advances in DNA technology to try to identify suspects in dormant homicide investigations.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Oct. 2026
Ryan Gosling is reviving one of his long-dormant side gigs just in time for Halloween.

— Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of dormant

Adjective

Later in the day, a California Highway Patrol helicopter located a deceased climber on that route, but a storm system soon moved into the area, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

— Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Professor Frink reanimates his formerly deceased father after winning the Nobel Prize, but the elder Frink, not content with his current body, steals parts and organs from other humans.

— Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of deceased

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aslant

asleep

as like as not

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Style

“Asleep.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/asleep. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of asleep

adjective

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