眼瞓 / 眼𰥛
ngaan⁵ fan³
The English word "sleepy" can be translated into Cantonese as 眼瞓 / 眼𰥛 (ngaan⁵ fan³).
眼瞓 / 眼𰥛 is an adjective used to describe the sensation of feeling the need for sleep. It is important to distinguish this from 想瞓覺, which is the more common way to express the active desire or intention to actually go to sleep.
Meaning: feeling the need for sleep (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The term 眼瞓 is composed of 眼 (eye) and 瞓 (sleep), literally meaning "eyes (are) sleepy".
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Guangzhou, the informal expression 困 is commonly used to mean feeling sleepy.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express that you are "very" sleepy, you can add the adverb 好 before the phrase, creating 好眼瞓.
How do you pronounce it?
ngaan⁵ fan³
Did you know?
- In many Cantonese-speaking regions, you might hear someone use the single character 困 to mean 'sleepy', even though in Mandarin this same character typically means 'trapped' or 'difficult'.
- In formal Cantonese writing, you might see different characters for 'sleep' than the informal 瞓 used in the phrase 眼瞓, reflecting a split between spoken and written styles.
- In traditional Cantonese medicine contexts, the feeling of 眼瞓 might be attributed to a lack of 'qi' or energy in specific organs rather than just a lack of rest.
Examples in context
- 我好困I feel sleepy.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sleepy” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
