眠り・睡り|ねむりnemuri[0]heiban (flat)
ねぶりneburiok
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Which spelling to use
眠り眠り is the most common and most standard form, and is the recommended choice for beginners when writing this word.
睡り睡り is a rarely used variant of 眠り, so learners will seldom encounter it and should normally choose 眠り instead.
Definitions
- nounsleep; sleeping
- nouninactivity
- noundeath
Synonyms & antonyms
- Synonym睡眠すいみんNeutralObjective, medical-flavoured term for sleep, as in 「睡眠不足」. Native 「眠り」 has more emotional colour and is the usual word for dormancy or eternal rest.
- SynonymスリープNeutralA loanword for the sleep mode of computers and devices; almost never used of people, unlike 眠り.
- Synonym就眠しゅうみんWrittenWritten/formal prose for going to bed or falling asleep, mostly in schedules, as in 「就眠時刻」; not for casual speech.
- Related御寝およるWrittenAn honorific for the sleep of a noble, used by court ladies; archaic and elegant, almost never seen today.
Use 「眠り」 for sleeping itself and figurative senses — 「深い眠り」, 「永遠の眠り」, dormancy. Pick 「睡眠」 for objective, medical contexts, 「スリープ」 for a computer's sleep mode, 「就眠」 for formal written schedules, and 「御寝」 only in archaic court language.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese definitions
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also
