空そら寝ね

そ

ら

ね

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'

feigned sleep; playing possum

Pretending to be asleep, often to avoid something or deceive someone. Used as a noun or with する.

弟おとうとは宿しゅく題だいをやりたくなくて空そら寝ねをした。
My younger brother pretended to be asleep because he didn't want to do his homework.
空そら寝ねを

決き

め

込こ

ん

で

、

話はな

しかけ

られ

ない

よう

に

し

た

。

I feigned sleep to avoid being spoken to.

Written forms

空そら寝ね
Standard kanji spelling.
そら寝ね
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; also common.

Kanji

空empty, sky, void
寝lie down, sleep, rest

Similar words

狸たぬき寝ね入いり
狸寝入り also means feigning sleep, but it is more colloquial and vivid, literally 'tanuki sleep'. 空寝 is a more standard, neutral term.

Etymology

Compound of 空 (そら, 'empty, false') and 寝 (ね, 'sleep'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the meaning is transparent from its components.