sleep dep

9.7

A state of not having enough sleep that makes you very tired

noun
/sliːp dɛp/

Informal

: privación de sueño

After pulling two all-nighters, Mark was clearly suffering from sleep dep.

Examples

Too much sleep dep can negatively impact both your physical and mental health.
Students often joke about how sleep dep affects their grades during exam season.
I have sleep dep.
Don't ignore sleep dep!
After pulling two all-nighters, Mark was clearly suffering from sleep dep.
Students often joke about how sleep dep affects their performance in class.
Too much sleep dep can lead to problems like trouble focusing and irritability.

Synonyms

sleeplessness

vssleep dep

7 4.1

Not being able to sleep for a period of time

focuses on not having enough rest rather than inability to rest

undersleep

vssleep dep

7.5

A lack of sleep that is less than needed for good health

is an informal abbreviation for not getting enough rest

Antonyms

refreshed

1 1.5

Feeling rested and full of new energy after a break

rested

1.0

Not tired after sleeping or taking a break

How Sleep-Deprived

sleep deprivation

Offensive

12 5.3

sleep dep

Informal

9.7

tiredness

10 1.0

sleepiness

8 1.0

undersleep

7.5

Surface Forms

sleep dep singular

sleep deps plural

Morphology

sleep + dep

The noun combines a transparent element 'sleep' with a non-standard abbreviation 'dep' that is not a lexical item; if a learner recognises 'dep' as short for 'deprivation' the meaning ('sleep deprivation') is recoverable, but that inference requires knowledge of the abbreviation rather than normal compositional morphology. Because the second constituent is unpredictable for a B1 learner and the form is an informal clipping, the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Sleep dep is an informal short form made from sleep + dep, where dep stands for 'deprivation'. One simple image is a sleepy person with an empty 'sleep bank'—their sleep is used up—so it means 'not enough sleep'.