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:
Every gubernatorial election since that race has been sleepy and ignored in national politics, with Democratic candidates coasting to victory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
The 2.4-gigawatt Rooppur nuclear plant, a $13-billion project more than a decade in the making, has transformed the once sleepy nearby village of the same name, bringing Russian workers, new businesses and jobs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
By the 13th day of using the oil, participants said they felt less sleepy after waking and more recovered from fatigue compared with periods when they used the unscented control.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
On an otherwise sleepy afternoon in Southwest Florida near the end of spring training, the impossible happened.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
These humans, however, also cover my muzzle with a tube that makes me sleepy.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
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
Cutting back on time in bed works partly through mild sleep deprivation, which makes you sleepier.
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
But as she was sleepier than any of them—she’d been rubbing her eyes for an hour—she consented to adjourn the meeting.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
When the sleepiest central bank on Earth becomes the one that matters, the plot has thickened.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
"It is fair to say that this connection, prior to the war in Ukraine, was one of the sleepiest links between North Korea and its two neighbours," said Cha.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
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
But in those places, it’s hard to remain grounded in the state’s soft beauty, most easily admired in its sleepiest spots like its fair capital city, Sacramento.
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2025
It was the hottest, sleepiest hour of the afternoon.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
