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Synonyms

groggy

American  
[grog-ee] / ˈgrɒg i /

adjective

groggier, groggiest

  1. staggering, as from exhaustion or blows.

    a boxer groggy from his opponent's hard left jab.

  2. dazed and weakened, as from lack of sleep.

    Late nights always make me groggy the next morning.
    Synonyms:
    dopey, woozy, lethargic, sluggish

  3. Archaic. drunk; intoxicated.

groggy British  
/ ˈɡrɒɡɪ /

adjective

  1. dazed or staggering, as from exhaustion, blows, or drunkenness

  2. faint or weak

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of groggy

First recorded in 1760–70; grog + -y 1

Explanation

If you feel a little confused or foggy-headed you can say that you are groggy. When you first wake up, you might be groggy until you get up and start moving around. The adjective groggy comes from the noun grog, which was what the sailors back in the 1700’s called rum diluted with water. Today, grog is slang for any liquor. To feel groggy is to feel drunk, tipsy, weak or dazed. Boxers who’ve sustained numerous blows to the head can get pretty groggy, and they might stagger around the ring — a sign that they are feeling out of it.

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Vocabulary lists containing groggy

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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.

Groggy recipients reached for their phones as they heard the MyShake app say aloud: “This is a test of the earthquake early warning system. This is only a test.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2023

Groggy and panicked, Drinks scanned the apartment for essentials, stuffed a shopping cart with clothes for his brothers and wheeled the cart up the road to his grandmother’s overcrowded row house.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2023

Groggy and myopic, I caught a promising green blur overhead and grabbed my glasses.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 22, 2019

Groggy and surprised, one man who opened the door thanked Abshear, part of a Coast Guard rescue unit here from Huntington, W.Va.

From Washington Post • Sep. 16, 2018

Groggy with sleep, he stumbled off to bed.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

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.