somnolent
Americanadjective
-
sleepy; drowsy.
- Synonyms:
- slumberous
-
tending to cause sleep.
- Synonyms:
- soporific, somniferous
adjective
-
drowsy; sleepy
-
causing drowsiness
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of somnolent
1425–75; late Middle English sompnolent < Old French < Latin somnolentus, derivative of somnus sleep; see -ulent
Compare meaning
How does somnolent compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If you're somnolent, you're feeling sleepy or drowsy. It's best to avoid operating speedboats or motorcycles when you're somnolent. Somnolent comes from the Latin word somnolentia, meaning "sleepiness," which in turn is from the Latin root somnus, for "sleep." You can feel somnolent, or describe something as being somnolent. Something described as somnolent is likely to induce sleep, like a boring movie in an overheated theater, or the low, somnolent lighting in a museum exhibit of fragile, old manuscripts.
Vocabulary lists containing somnolent
"The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry
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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
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In Cold Blood
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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.
Somnolent much of the day, Ms. Borsheim was walking into walls and slumping over at the dinner table.
From New York Times • Sep. 17, 2021
As president, he established the White House’s Scowcroft Award for Somnolent Excellence, a spoof prize honoring the official who could best doze off in a meeting yet still perk up when needed.
From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2018
Somnolent is the word for the State Department, where one official declared: "This simply isn't a time for action."
From Time Magazine Archive
Somnolent conductors gave a shrug when I asked if matters would improve, so at the final pre-Washington stop at New Carrollton, I decided to switch to the Metro and invited the Germans to follow me.
From Washington Post
Somnolent sounds from the couch in the library warned them not to locate there.
From The First Soprano by Hitchcock, Mary
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.
