- Today's Word
Hypnagogic
hip-nuh-GAH-jik
Definition
(adjective) Relating to the state immediately before falling asleep; occurring in the transitional period between wakefulness and sleep.
Example
She experienced vivid hypnagogic hallucinations of falling just as she was drifting off to sleep.
Word Origin
Late 19th century: from French “hypnagogique,” from Greek “hypnos” meaning “sleep” + “agogos” meaning “leading.”
Fun Fact
That strange sensation of suddenly jerking awake as you’re falling asleep? That’s a hypnagogic jerk, also called a hypnic jerk. The hypnagogic state is when your brain produces its weirdest content—fleeting visions, hearing your name called, feeling like you’re floating or falling, or experiencing impossible geometric patterns. Artists and inventors have credited hypnagogic experiences with creative breakthroughs: Salvador Dalí would hold a key over a plate while dozing, letting it drop and wake him to capture his hypnagogic visions. Thomas Edison used a similar technique with ball bearings. Your brain during this twilight state is uniquely uninhibited, making connections it would never make while fully awake.