sleepwalker

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sleepwalker" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sleepwalker” is an uncommon English word, ranked #77,206 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#77,206
frequency rank, English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A somnambulist; one who walks, or is active, while asleep.

Key facts for sleepwalker
PropertyValue
Headwordsleepwalker
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#77,206
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sleepwalker” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sleepwalker lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for sleepwalker is 11 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #77,206 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No generated misspelling entries exist for sleepwalker in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From sleep + walker or sleepwalk + -er. The correct English form is sleepwalker, spelled S-L-E-E-P-W-A-L-K-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A somnambulist; one who walks, or is active, while asleep.
  2. 2
    One in a state of magnetic or mesmeric sleep; someone in a hypnotic trance.
  3. 3
    A person from whom a voodoo practitioner (a bocor) has taken over control of their mind, making them a zombie who must do the bocor's bidding.
  4. 4
    One who goes though life in a state of obliviousness.

Etymology

From sleep + walker or sleepwalk + -er.

Synonyms

somnambulist

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sleepwalker"?
"sleepwalker" is spelled S-L-E-E-P-W-A-L-K-E-R.
What does "sleepwalker" mean?
As a noun, "sleepwalker" means: A somnambulist; one who walks, or is active, while asleep.
What is the origin of the word "sleepwalker"?
From sleep + walker or sleepwalk + -er. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “sleepwalker”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-L-E-E-P-W-A-L-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list