verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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UK:/əʊvəˈsliːp/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/oʊvəɹˈslip/
rhymes with -iːp
CMU ARPABET:OW2 V ER0 S L IY1 P
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
verb
Meaning 1
To sleep for longer than intended.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
I overslept and was late for school.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To sleep for longer than one intended.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, reflexive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To sleep beyond (a given time), to sleep through (an event etc.).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
to oversleep one's usual hour of rising
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
sleep longer than intended
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English sleep English oversleep From over- + sleep.
Across languages
Translations
43 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
اِسْتَغْرَقَ فِي النَّوْم
(istaḡraqa fī an-nawm)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Azerbaijani:
yatıb qalmaq
— to sleep for longer than planned
Belarusian:
праспа́ць
(praspácʹ)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Bulgarian:
успи́вам се
(uspívam se)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Bulgarian:
успя́ се
(uspjá se)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Carpathian Rusyn:
преспац
(prespac)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Chinese Mandarin:
睡過頭 /睡过头
(shuìguòtóu)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Czech:
zaspat
— to sleep for longer than planned
Danish:
sove over sig
— to sleep for longer than planned
Dutch:
zich verslapen
— to sleep for longer than planned
Faroese:
ovsova
— to sleep for longer than planned
Faroese:
sova yvir
— to sleep for longer than planned
Finnish:
nukkua pommiin
— to sleep for longer than planned
French:
trop dormir
— to sleep for longer than planned
German:
verschlafen
— to sleep for longer than planned
German:
verpennen
— to sleep for longer than planned
Greek:
παρακοιμάμαι
(parakoimámai)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Hungarian:
elalszik
— to sleep for longer than planned
Icelandic:
sofa yfir sig
— to sleep for longer than planned
Italian:
dormire troppo
— to sleep for longer than planned
Japanese:
寝過ごす
(nesugosu)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Japanese:
寝坊する
(nebō suru)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Korean:
늦잠을 자다
(neutjam-eul jada)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Latvian:
aizgulēties
— to sleep for longer than planned
Lushootseed:
ʔitutdubut
— to sleep for longer than planned
Macedonian:
се успие
(se uspie)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Māori:
moeroa
— to sleep for longer than planned
Norwegian Bokmål:
forsove seg
— to sleep for longer than planned
Polish:
zasypiać
— to sleep for longer than planned
Polish:
zaspać
— to sleep for longer than planned
Portuguese:
dormir demais
— to sleep for longer than planned
Portuguese:
adormecer
— to sleep for longer than planned
Russian:
просыпа́ть
(prosypátʹ)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Russian:
проспа́ть
(prospátʹ)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Serbo-Croatian:
преспа́вати
— to sleep for longer than planned
Serbo-Croatian:
prespávati
— to sleep for longer than planned
Slovak:
zaspať
— to sleep for longer than planned
Slovene:
prespati
— to sleep for longer than planned
Spanish:
quedarse dormido
— to sleep for longer than planned
Swedish:
försova sig
— to sleep for longer than planned
Turkish:
uyuyakalmak
— to sleep for longer than planned
Ukrainian:
просипа́ти
(prosypáty)
— to sleep for longer than planned
Ukrainian:
проспа́ти
(prospáty)
— to sleep for longer than planned