þreyttur

þreyttur is an Icelandic adjective meaning “tired” or “exhausted.” It describes a state of fatigue resulting from lack of sleep, physical exertion, or mental strain, and it can refer to people and, less commonly, animals. The word is derived from the noun þreyta, fatigue or weariness, and has cognates in other North Germanic languages, such as Danish træt, Norwegian trett, and Swedish trött.

Grammar and usage: Icelandic adjectives inflect for gender and number. The base form is masculine singular, þreyttur. The feminine and neuter forms are typically realized as þreytt in common contexts, with endings changing according to definiteness and grammatical role. The adjective is commonly used predicatively after the verb er (to be): Ég er þreyttur (I am tired) or Hun er þreytt (She is tired). It can also appear attributively before a noun, for example, þreyttur maður (a tired man), though in many cases adjectives follow the noun in Icelandic word order.

Related terms: The noun þreyta denotes fatigue, weariness, or exhaustion, and is a common basis for compounds and phrases describing physical or mental tiredness. The word participates in everyday speech and in literature to convey states of fatigue, boredom, or diminished energy.

See also: þreyta (fatigue), Nordic cognates in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish.