wakefulness

as in insomnia
the inability to obtain adequate sleep a nagging wakefulness that seemed resistant to all of the standard home remedies

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 wakefulness Some researchers are using this state between sleep and wakefulness to study the nature of consciousness itself. Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 17 Oct. 2025 On average, kids were awake for 38 minutes per night, while parents estimated fewer than five minutes of wakefulness. Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Oct. 2025 Sleepwalking explores the narrow yet profound space between the vigilant awareness of wakefulness and the surrender to the unknown feelings and sensations of sleep. Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025 The programme has also been designed to educate guests on how to achieve good sleep when back at home and how factors, such as nutrition, gut health, stress and water retention, are all interconnected and play a part with insomnia and wakefulness. Angelina Villa-Clarke, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025 His collection explored the intersection of bedtime narratives, memory and that transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, translating stories into wearable forms that reflect the blurred lines between reality and dreams, tradition and innovation, and past and future. Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 10 Sep. 2025 The result is a yin–yang balance, where sleep drives GH, and GH helps shape the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. New Atlas, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wakefulness
Noun
  • Sedentary lifestyles are linked to a higher risk of insomnia, mortality and cardiovascular disease.
    Gina Park, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
  • For someone with sleep-onset insomnia, Kat says, lights-out might have come earlier, and the scheme would have been different.
    Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Throughout the film, del Toro flits and hovers between contradictory ideas, with the restlessness of the beautiful butterflies that Elizabeth, an amateur entomologist, likes to study.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Paying close attention to how each pillow affected their sleep, any improvements in neck pain, restlessness, and temperature regulation, to determine which organic pillows made the cut.
    Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 28 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Key Takeaways Both cold showers and plunges offer health benefits, such as improving mood and alertness.
    T'Keyah Bazin, Verywell Health, 30 Oct. 2025
  • To measure my alertness, she’s decided to give me an hourly Psychomotor Vigilance Test, along with some word-fluency exercises and EEG brain scans.
    Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wakefulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wakefulness. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!