眠(ねむ)い

ねむい
adjective (i-adjective)
sleepy
Conjugation
AffirmativeNegative
Present眠(ねむ)い眠(ねむ)くない
Past眠(ねむ)かった眠(ねむ)くなかった
て form眠(ねむ)くて眠(ねむ)くなくて
Adverbial眠(ねむ)く—
Conditional ば眠(ねむ)ければ眠(ねむ)くなければ
Conditional たら眠(ねむ)かったら眠(ねむ)くなかったら
1. sleepy, drowsy
Feeling the need or desire to sleep. The state of being tired and wanting to sleep.
とても眠(ねむ)いです。
I'm very sleepy.
昨日(きのう)よく眠(ねむ)れなかったから眠(ねむ)いです。
I'm sleepy because I couldn't sleep well yesterday.
眠(ねむ)くなってきました。
I'm getting sleepy.
～くなる for becoming
朝(あさ)から眠(ねむ)くて、仕事(しごと)ができませんでした。
I was sleepy since morning and couldn't do my work.
子供(こども)たちは夜(よる)遅(おそ)くまで遊(あそ)んでいたので、今日(きょう)はとても眠(ねむ)そうな顔(かお)をしています。
The children were playing until late at night, so today they have very sleepy faces.
眠(ねむ)そう = looks sleepy

眠(ねむ)い is an i-adjective describing the state of feeling sleepy or drowsy.

FORMS:

  • Verb: 眠(ねむ)る (to sleep)
  • Noun: 眠(ねむ)り (sleep), 眠(ねむ)さ (sleepiness)
  • Adverb: 眠(ねむ)く (眠(ねむ)くなる = to become sleepy)

COMMON EXPRESSIONS:

  • 眠(ねむ)くなる: to become sleepy
  • 眠(ねむ)そう: to look sleepy
  • とても眠(ねむ)い: very sleepy
  • 眠(ねむ)くて仕方(しかた)ない: so sleepy I can't help it
  • 眠(ねむ)い目(め)をこする: to rub sleepy eyes

KANJI COMPOUNDS:

  • 睡眠(すいみん): sleep (formal)
  • 睡眠不足(すいみんぶそく): lack of sleep
  • 仮眠(かみん): nap
  • 安眠(あんみん): restful sleep

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 疲(つか)れた: tired (physical exhaustion)
  • だるい: sluggish, listless
  • 眠(ねむ)たい: sleepy (variant, slightly more casual)

NOTE:
眠(ねむ)い specifically describes wanting to sleep, while 疲(つか)れた is about physical/mental exhaustion. You can be 疲(つか)れた without being 眠(ねむ)い, and vice versa.

Related Words

Related: 眠(ねむ)る (to sleep (verb))
basic
Added 2026.1.7 21:24 · Revised 2026.4.1 8:52
00500/00872_nemui