somnambulant
- adjective
- /sɑːmˈnæmbjʊlənt/
- She looked at the somnambulant eyes of the lady of the house; she looked at the uncertain light that was beginning to retreat as if it were being swept away with a broom; she looked at the square room; she looked at the colored print of the Sacred Heart; she looked at the hand refilling the teacups.
Examples
-
But the sea seemed somnambulant, like a man who had just woken, and, speaking figuratively, hardly touched the shore's sand with the edges of its clothing.
Fiction book (1999) -
And, there's the puppet theater... the Parliament jesters foist on the somnambulant public.
-
Although I agree with the point of this post, I have to point out that Obama is simply the 'face' used to market what is essentially a criminal conspiracy whose principal focus is the maintenance of a somnambulant electorate.
Blog text (32) -
"It is not only the coolest-looking computer introduced in years but a chest-thumping statement that Silicon Valley's original dream company is no longer somnambulant."
-
In keeping with the impact of Romanticism on her first poetry, she characterizes both the poet and poetry as somnambulant inertness.
Academic text (2001) -
Exposing them draws them out, which leads to more somnambulant sheep awakening to their long-running crime schemes.
Blog text (31) -
Sad, gay, it was all the same to V'lu, whose immense brown eyes were becoming somnambulant, if not squamulous, a sure sign that the hurricane drops were beginning to take effect.
Fiction book (1990) -
But TJ, just the way Roy walks and trots on the court when he isn't at full speed leads me to believe this isn't something that will work itself out, like kinks or even somnambulant muscles.
Blog text (6) -
He fed them steadily until their hunger subsided and their heads started to loll, nodding in time with their impatient breathing and the shudder of their shoulders in somnambulant flight.
Fiction book (1994) -
After a long night, he moved around the house in a somnambulant state, barely aware of his surroundings.
Synonyms
Feeling sleepy and not fully awake, often because you are tired or bored
Moving slowly and not fully aware because you are very tired
Feeling sleepy or making you want to sleep
Not fully paying attention and feeling confused or dreamy
Looking dreamy and lost in thought, not paying attention
Moving or acting slowly and automatically like a sleepwalker
Very tired and unable to keep your eyes open
Feeling sleepy or making you want to sleep
Easily distracted and not paying full attention
Calm and quiet in a way that makes you feel sleepy
A calm, quiet mood that makes you feel sleepy
Having a sleepy, calm feeling that makes you relax
To feel dazed and not able to pay attention
Antonyms
How Drowsy
Surface Forms
Morphology
somnambulant = somnambulate (semi-transparent) = somn + ambul + ant
The adjective is directly formed from the verb 'somnambulate' ('to sleepwalk'), but the Latin combining forms ('somn-', 'ambul-') and the rare verb are unfamiliar to average learners, so the derivation is not fully transparent.
Etymology
The word somnambulant comes from Latin parts somn- meaning 'sleep' and ambul- meaning 'to walk', and you can see the same walking root in amble. So it literally means 'sleep-walking' and describes someone who moves in a drowsy, almost automatic way.