Jet Lag: Meaning, Symptoms, and How to Prevent It

Meaning 1：Jet lag (Jet lag)

Jet lag 🔊

/ˈdʒet læɡ/

Feeling tired and your sleep being mixed up because you flew quickly across many time zones.

Jet lag 🔊

➕

/dʒet læg/

The feeling of tiredness and confusion experienced after long flights across multiple time zones, caused by the disruption of the body's internal clock.

📁 Category：Transportation & Travel 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

A compound word: 'jet' refers to jet aircraft, 'lag' means delay; together they describe the body's delay in adjusting to new time zones.

💡 Mnemonic

Picture your internal clock lagging behind the jet's speed, leaving you exhausted at odd hours.

📖 Example

After flying from London to Tokyo, I had terrible jet lag and woke up at 3 AM every day for a week. 🔊 After flying from London to Tokyo, I had terrible jet lag and woke up at 3 AM every day for a week.

🔗 Collocations

suffer from jet lag – experience the effects of jet lag

jet lag symptoms – signs of jet lag, such as tiredness and insomnia

overcome jet lag – recover from or adapt to jet lag

🔄 Synonyms

time lag (n.) – A general delay caused by time differences, often used interchangeably with jet lag.

travel fatigue (n.) – Tiredness from long journeys, not necessarily from time zone changes.

📖 Cultural Story

Coined in the 1960s after the rise of commercial jet travel, it became common as more people flew across continents. It reflects the mismatch between internal circadian rhythms and local time after rapid travel.