夜不能寐

yèbù-néngmèi
idiom #30,317

Meanings

  1. 1 unable to sleep at night
  2. 2 lying awake all night (from worry or excitement)

Examples

HSK 2
Xiǎngdào míngtiān de kǎoshì, tā yèbù-néngmèi.
Thinking about tomorrow's exam, he couldn't sleep all night.
HSK 3
Zhège xiāoxi ràng tā yèbù-néngmèi.
The news kept her awake at night.

Tips

usage
A four-character set phrase rather than a canonical chengyu, but it functions exactly like one in modern writing. Always describes wakefulness driven by an emotion (worry, anxiety, anticipation, grief), never a medical insomnia complaint. Compare with 辗转反侧 ('tossing and turning'), which emphasizes the physical restlessness.
memory
'night' + 不能 'unable to' + 'to sleep' (the literary verb for sleep, also seen in 梦寐以求). Word-for-word: 'at night, unable to sleep.'

Stroke Order

néng
mèi