adjective
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heavy with sleepiness; sleepy
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inducing sleep; soporific
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sluggish or lethargic; dull
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of drowsy
Explanation
Drowsy means sleepy and having low energy. When you’re sitting in the warm sunlight after a big lunch, and you’re so drowsy you can’t keep your eyes open, it’s not the right time to try organizing your desk. Ah drowsy, a word that describes slow-moving lions and charming little towns equally well. It has a pleasant association to it, a nice cozy sleepiness, like the sort of feeling you have when you can’t exactly figure out why your eyes keep closing, they just do. Wine makes some people drowsy and a boring documentary will definitely do it to you. Drowsy comes from an Old English word meaning "falling," and has evolved into falling asleep.
Vocabulary lists containing drowsy
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act III
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"The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes
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Milkweed
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Drowsy driving isn’t just the act of nodding off at the wheel.
From Slate • Nov. 26, 2025
Formally, the National Sleep Foundation developed and has produced Drowsy Driving Prevention Week® since 2007 and recently published a new drowsy driving position statement.
From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024
The new book for “Smash” will be co-written Tony-nominated Rick Elice, who penned “Jersey Boys,” and Tony-winner Bob Martin, who won for “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2023
After appearing in multiple national tours, including of "Grease," she made her Broadway debut in 2007 in "The Drowsy Chaperone" at the age of 60.
From Salon • Jan. 31, 2023
I travel with Volpe and a group of students one night to see another high school perform a musical called The Drowsy Chaperone, a very good show with a really dumb title.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
