WAKEFULNESS Synonyms: 7 Similar and Opposite Words

wakefulness

noun

as in insomnia

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

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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 Orexins help regulate wakefulness, as well as attention, motivation and the brain’s reward system. — Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 20 Aug. 2026 But in people with narcolepsy, such boundaries become blurred, allowing elements of sleep to intrude into wakefulness in varying ways. — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 8 July 2026 The clinical data demonstrated significant improvements in wakefulness and reductions in excessive daytime sleepiness at week eight, outperforming the placebo with a generally favorable safety profile. — Sasirekha Subramanian, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026 Daytime light helps set the body’s circadian rhythms, which play an important role in sleep, wakefulness, and other brain and body functions. — Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 25 June 2026 As a result, many night owls feel groggy in the morning because their bodies have not yet fully prepared for wakefulness. — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 19 June 2026 That’s followed by periods of contemplation, energized wakefulness, and, purportedly, a vanishing of withdrawal symptoms. — Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026 Everybody wants to sound like her, but no one else can quite replicate the particular sonic grammar of her writing, which unfurls like an intimate dispatch from the blurry edge of sleep and wakefulness. — New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026 The company’s key asset is cleminorexton (formerly known as ORX750), which seeks to mimic a molecule in the brain, known as orexin, that helps regulate wakefulness. — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 31 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wakefulness

Noun

Mild effects, such as drowsiness, headache, insomnia, nausea, and vomiting, are common.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
In the months leading up to January 2023, she had been prescribed over a dozen psychiatric medications and several times checked herself into a hospital to treat her depression, anxiety, insomnia and suicidal thoughts.

— Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of insomnia

Noun

He’s never settled into a particular genre and, perhaps due to that wide-ranging restlessness, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be awarding him an honorary Oscar in November.

— Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Tisch went to law school, eventually landing (with some restlessness) in real estate finance at Vornado Realty Trust and then at information services company KGB.

— Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of restlessness

Noun

To achieve this, the locus coeruleus continuously alternates between tonic activity—governing baseline arousal and alertness—and brief phasic bursts that focus attention on critical events.

— Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
During the campaign, candidates are in a state of constant alertness.

— Max Taves, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of alertness

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wakeful

wakefulness

waken

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“Wakefulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wakefulness. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of wakefulness

noun

Example Sentences

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