Hypnagogic

//ˌhɪpnəˈɡɑd͡ʒɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    That induces sleep; soporific, somniferous.
  2. 2
    That accompanies falling asleep; especially, pertaining to the semi-conscious period immediately preceding sleep.

    "But if we are in the right mood, a second of such lethargy is enough to make a hypnagogic [translating hypnagogische] hallucination appear, after which perhaps we reawaken, until the oft-repeated performance is brought to an end by sleep."

Adjective
  1. 1
    sleep inducing wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
hypnogogicsomniferoussomniferoussomnificsoporiferoussoporific

Example

More examples

"But if we are in the right mood, a second of such lethargy is enough to make a hypnagogic [translating hypnagogische] hallucination appear, after which perhaps we reawaken, until the oft-repeated performance is brought to an end by sleep."

Etymology

From French hypnagogique, from Ancient Greek ὕπνος (húpnos, “sleep”) + ἀγωγός (agōgós, “leading”).

Related phrases

hypnagogic jerk

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.