Synonyms for the feeling after an all-nighter.

April 29, 2008 10:16 PM

What's another word for the feeling you get after an all-nighter? It's not euphoria, giddiness, silliness, or simply high..

(Too many all-nighters have screwed with my memory recall.)

posted by hobbes to writing & language (26 comments total)

exhaustion?
posted by Pants! at 10:23 PM on April 29

nauciousness?
posted by tmcw at 10:26 PM on April 29

We usually call it "cracked out"
posted by cosmic osmo at 10:26 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Sleep deprivation, man. It's the most powerful drug of them all.
posted by silby at 10:27 PM on April 29

Whackiness?
(PS. Are we talking all-nighters for business or pleasure? If the former, it sounds like yous are a lot more fun than mine).
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:27 PM on April 29

delirium
posted by PinkButterfly at 10:29 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]

I call it "loopiness" -- but I don't think that's a technical term. I have it right now.
posted by pazazygeek at 10:32 PM on April 29 [1 favorite]

irritability
posted by rancidchickn at 10:36 PM on April 29

Slap happy.
posted by zsazsa at 10:38 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]

If you're referring to the state of being goofy because you're overtired, I've always called it "punchy" (probably derived from punch-drunk, I'd guess)
posted by stefanie at 10:38 PM on April 29

Ditto Cosmic Osmo, that's what we call it too cause that's how you feel: totally cracked out.
posted by lannanh at 10:43 PM on April 29

Thank you PinkButterfly.. it's been bugging me for the past hour or so.

stefanie, my friend uses punchy, too, but delirium was the one on my tongue.

Thanks everyone!
posted by hobbes at 10:45 PM on April 29

Does anyone else find that after they have been up all night and into the next day, they experience strong anxiety once they do finally get in bed and try to fall asleep? I experience that as well as stressful dreams where I am trying to wake myself up but can't.
posted by GregWithLime at 10:54 PM on April 29

Thank you PinkButterfly.. it's been bugging me for the past hour or so.

No problem. I've pulled many all-nighters.
posted by PinkButterfly at 10:59 PM on April 29

I suspect this is a regional and generational thing. It's a feeling you first experience and describe with your peers, not your parents.

(At my high school, in Michigan in the mid-90s, it was "cracked out.")
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:48 PM on April 29

I usually have a feeling of lucidity after going without sleep for a long period.
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 11:52 PM on April 29

hangover ;-)
posted by krautland at 1:56 AM on April 30

punch drunk
posted by Stewriffic at 4:10 AM on April 30

Spaced out.
posted by afx237vi at 6:20 AM on April 30

When I was in high school we used to call that being "simpled out," but I haven't heard that in years now. Haven't stayed up all night in years, either, so I guess it wouldn't have come up.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:56 AM on April 30

Another "punchy" here.
posted by Shepherd at 8:24 AM on April 30

The best name I've ever heard for it is "pumpkin time."

... in a study of simulated driving performance, impairments in lane-keeping ability after a night without sleep were equivalent to those observed at blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.07%.
posted by clockwork at 8:38 AM on April 30

I've heard it referred to as a "fatigue high".
posted by Class Goat at 9:29 AM on April 30

"Fuzzed out"
posted by rlef98 at 9:29 AM on April 30

I disagree on "delirium" for me it's always been (in English, anyway) "frazzled." For it to be "delirium" there would need to be hallucinations.

I have pulled many an allnighter and suffer from insomnia.
posted by Kattullus at 10:58 AM on April 30

Yeah, we call it "slappy."
posted by klangklangston at 8:34 AM on May 1