asleep

asleepadjective

American /əˈslip/ British /əˈsliːp/

not gradable

very commondefining vocabulary

sleepingsleeping; not awake
predicative only [pred] not gradable [not gradable]
- The baby is asleep at last.
- Kim fell asleep on the sofa in front of the television. (fall asleep: begin to sleep)
- Is he still asleep? It's almost noon.
- I was so tired that I was asleep before my head touched the pillow.
Collocations
adverb + adjective fast asleep, sound asleep, half asleep, still asleep, already asleep
phrase fall asleep, be asleep in bed, pretend to be asleep
Antonyms awake
Compare sleep (sleep is the verb for the activity: she slept for an hour; asleep names the state: she was asleep); sleepy (sleepy means wanting to sleep, not sleeping)
For translators (sense 1)
Meaning across languages Most languages express this state with a verb: she sleeps, she is sleeping. English uses be plus asleep for the state and the verb sleep for the activity, so a translation may need a verb where English has an adjective.
of an arm or leg(of an arm, leg, hand, or foot) without feeling for a short time, usually because you have been sitting or lying on it
predicative only [pred] not gradable [not gradable]
- My foot is asleep from sitting on it.
- I couldn't stand up right away because my leg was asleep.
- Her arm was asleep because she had been lying on it.
Synonyms numb (numb is the general word and is also used for cold)
For translators (sense 2)
Meaning across languages Many languages say that a limb has gone to sleep or is numb; the English adjective asleep is used of the limb itself, with be or go: my foot is asleep, my foot went to sleep.

Phrases

fast asleep

sleeping very deeply, so that it is hard to wake you

Sound asleep means the same. Fast here has an old meaning, firmly, that survives in almost no other phrase.

The children were fast asleep by nine.
He was fast asleep and did not hear the phone.

Word family

sleep
sleep
sleepy

Usage

To say that someone begins to sleep, use fall asleep or go to sleep. Asleep does not come immediately before a noun: say a sleeping child, not an asleep child.

Common mistakes

an asleep baby a sleeping baby
Asleep is used only after a verb such as be; before a noun use sleeping.

I went asleep during the movie. I fell asleep during the movie.
The verb that goes with asleep is fall. Go to sleep is also possible, but not go asleep.

Word origin

Asleep comes from the Old English phrase on slæpe, meaning in sleep; awake, alive, and alone were formed the same way.

Checked against: Wiktionary, Online Etymology Dictionary (2026-09-16)

For translators

Grammar trap Asleep, like awake, alive, alone, and afraid, does not come immediately before a noun (not an asleep baby), but can follow a noun together with a complement: the baby asleep in the crib. It has no comparative form; degree is shown with fast, sound, or half: half asleep.

Pronunciation trap The stress is on the second syllable, and the first vowel is weak, like the a of about.