睡 means “sleep, drowsiness”

すい · sui

Also: drowsy, die

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ねむる, ねむい

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

スイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

An eye (目) beside 垂, to hang down: eyelids drooping shut. 睡 is sleep in formal words: 睡眠 is sleep, 熟睡 sleeping soundly, and 睡魔, the sleep demon, is what attacks you in an afternoon meeting.

Used in 睡眠 (suimin, sleep), 熟睡 (jukusui, deep sleep), and 睡魔 (suima, overwhelming sleepiness)

More from Rest & Unrest

• 悠 leisurely
• 閑 quiet
• 醒 awaken
• 緊 tense
• 緩 loose
• 騒 make noise
• 妥 compromise
• 泰 peaceful
• 黙 be silent
• 穏 calm
• 粛 solemn
• 鎮 calm

Learn 睡 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.