drowsy

[ drou-zee ]

/ ˈdraʊ zi /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drowsy ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, drow·si·er, drow·si·est.

half-asleep; sleepy.

marked by or resulting from sleepiness.

dull; sluggish.

inducing lethargy or sleepiness: drowsy spring weather.

Nearby words

Origin of drowsy

First recorded in 1520–30; drowse + -y¹

SYNONYMS FOR drowsy

1. somnolent, dozy. 3. lethargic, listless.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drowsy ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsdrow·si·ly, adverbdrow·si·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for drowsy

Casablancas speaks in a drowsy mumble and occasionally needs prodding, but once you do, becomes surprisingly engaged.
Julian Casablancas Enters the Void: On the Strokes’ Friction, Why He Left NYC, and Starting Over|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy tranquillity.
The Glorious Fourth|David Frum|July 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Barely 20 years ago, Brazil was a drowsy, underperfoming Third World nation, plagued by hyperinflation and boom-and-bust growth.
Dilma Thumps for Women|Mac Margolis|September 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
It was a drowsy afternoon, and he objected to travel in these out-of-the-world parts.
The Story of an African Farm|(AKA Ralph Iron) Olive Schreiner

I was told that to keep the people awake a man sometimes goes around spurting cold water over the drowsy and nodding heads.
Unknown Mexico, Volume 1 (of 2)|Carl Lumholtz
He raised himself amongst the down pillows, and contemplated the figures upon the tapestry in a drowsy reverie.
John Marchmont's Legacy, Volumes I-III|Mary E. Braddon
At intervals throughout the car, drowsy heads bobbed up, the glances of their owners sleepily directed toward the rear door.
The Khaki Boys at Camp Sterling|Josephine Chase
To add to the peril at any moment, either the drowsy man by the fire, or one of the sleeping men beyond, might awaken.
The Boy Scouts' Mountain Camp|John Henry Goldfrap

British Dictionary definitions for drowsy

drowsy

/ (ˈdraʊzɪ) /

adjective drowsier or drowsiest

heavy with sleepiness; sleepy

inducing sleep; soporific

sluggish or lethargic; dull

Derived Formsdrowsily, adverbdrowsiness, noun

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

Word Origin and History for drowsy

drowsy

adj.

1520s, probably ultimately from Old English drusan, drusian "sink," also "become languid, slow, or inactive" (related to dreosan "to fall"), from Proto-Germanic *drus- (see dreary). But there is no record of it in Middle English. Related: Drowsily; drowsiness.

drowsy

adjective, drow·si·er, drow·si·est.

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Origin of drowsy

Examples from the Web for drowsy

drowsy

adjective drowsier or drowsiest

drowsy