sleepy
Americanadjective
-
sleepier,
comparative
-
sleepiest
superlative
-
ready or inclined to sleep; drowsy.
- Synonyms:
- slumberous, somnolent, tired
-
of or showing drowsiness.
-
languid; languorous.
a sleepy gesture.
-
lethargic; sluggish.
a sleepy brook.
-
quiet.
a sleepy village.
-
inducing sleep; soporific.
sleepy warmth.
adjective
-
inclined to or needing sleep; drowsy
-
characterized by or exhibiting drowsiness, sluggishness, etc
-
conducive to sleep; soporific
-
without activity or bustle
a sleepy town
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sleepy
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at sleep, -y 1
Explanation
When you're sleepy, you're tired or drowsy. Snow White's dwarf who is always yawning? That's Sleepy! Sleepy people need to sleep. Sleepy things (like a sleepy yawn or a sleepy face) can be evidence of how exhausted someone is. If a place is described as sleepy, it means "unexciting" or "without activity," so you could call the little village where your grandparents live a sleepy town. You can also call your tired friend a "sleepy head," a term that's been around since the 1500s.
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.
See Examples For:
They transformed it from a sleepy fishing village to one of the world's most famous and frenetic party towns.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Portugal’s Comporta still feels like a sleepy beach town—but probably not for long.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
It’s not the sort of place where grand history happens, and yet, in 1971 this sleepy burg was the site of a world-historic upset.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
He faces Republican state Sen. David Brock Smith in a sleepy blue-state race that Merkley is favored to win.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The divine afflatus usually lasted a week or two, and then she emerged from her ‘vortex’, hungry, sleepy, cross, or despondent.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
After next week, deal flow may slow during the usually sleepier months of July and August and pick back up again after Labor Day.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
As a shopping event, the day itself is sleepier, and the deals are available much longer.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025
And when you’re sleepier, it stands to reason, you sleep more easily.
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2025
While December remains a sleepier month for new book releases than other times of the year, December 2024 offers quite a few terrific titles, so many that it was difficult to choose among them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2024
In hundreds of houses sleepy women woke sleepier children.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Time of day factors in because of our biological clocks; we’re sleepiest late at night and early in the morning.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2025
You may feel like this house will never significantly increase in value, but even the sleepiest of neighborhoods have a habit of surprising you with their transformation.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 13, 2025
Here we are on a Friday, traditionally the sleepiest of Westminster’s weekdays, and MPs confront a potentially generational defining vote on assisted dying while the government confronts its first cabinet resignation.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024
But if you do vote — especially in the sleepiest, least sexy elections imaginable, like this midterm primary in Massachusetts — Stinnett is certain politicians will start to pay attention to what you care about.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2018
Finally Dragon, protesting with only the sleepiest of whines, was picked up and deposited on the back porch.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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.
