sleepy

[ slee-pee ]

adjective

, sleep·i·er, sleep·i·est.

1. ready or inclined to sleep; drowsy.

   Synonyms: slumberous, somnolent, tired

2. of or showing drowsiness.
3. languid; languorous:

   a sleepy gesture.

4. lethargic; sluggish:

   a sleepy brook.

5. quiet:

   a sleepy village.

6. inducing sleep; soporific:

   sleepy warmth.

sleepy

/ ˈsliːpɪ /

adjective

1. inclined to or needing sleep; drowsy
2. characterized by or exhibiting drowsiness, sluggishness, etc
3. conducive to sleep; soporific
4. without activity or bustle

   a sleepy town

Derived Forms

• ˈsleepily, adverb
• ˈsleepiness, noun

Other Words From

• sleepi·ly adverb
• sleepi·ness noun
• un·sleepy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sleepy¹

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; sleep, -y ¹

Example Sentences

The heat of the day was making me sleepy, so I opened my windows and turned up my music, intending to stop at the next pullout to take a nap and revive myself before continuing.

From Outside Online

They also make people sleepy, reduce pain and make people feel good.

From Science News For Students

Rapid growth has strained resources in the sleepy, rural town, and RV camps—which locals refer to as “man camps”—have been set up for oil workers and their families.

From MIT Technology Review

These top athletes have tricks to get even the sleepiest out of bed for an outing you won’t regret.

From Outside Online

Even when Redfield was allowed to speak publicly, his sleepy eyes and soft, droning tone anesthetized listeners.

From ProPublica

The film helps to draw scores of visitors to this sleepy river town year after year.

From The Daily Beast

BIRKIANI, Georgia — Time seems to stop in this sleepy Georgian village high in the green mountains of the Pankisi Gorge.

From The Daily Beast

Last year Fox gifted the world with the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” retelling we never knew we needed.

From The Daily Beast

But it was a shadow of its former self: sleepy, unprofitable, and not particularly confident about its complicated past.

From The Daily Beast

It turned out that I had dozens of sleep interruptions during the night, which likely caused me to feel sleepy in the morning.

From The Daily Beast

Sondershausen is a dreamy, sleepy place, with so little life about it that you hardly realize there are any people there at all.

From Project Gutenberg

He ate as many as he wanted and then, as he always felt sleepy after he had eaten, he thought he would lie down and have a nap.

From Project Gutenberg

Her eyes gleamed bright and intense, with no sleepy shadows, as they looked into his.

From Project Gutenberg

So, although he was tired and sleepy from the excitement of the day, he began to tell of his visit to Manila when a young man.

From Project Gutenberg

Not a word was spoken, for the driver had grown sleepy, and Sikes was in no mood to lead him into conversation.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• drowsy
• lethargic
• listless
• quiet
• sluggish