groggy
Americanadjective
-
groggier,
comparative
-
groggiest
superlative
adjective
-
dazed or staggering, as from exhaustion, blows, or drunkenness
-
faint or weak
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of groggy
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.
Vocabulary lists containing groggy
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Kindred
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"A Village After Dark" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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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.
See Examples For:
The downside is you might be a bit groggy, but the adrenaline rush should take over so you enjoy it, although you "might struggle to then fall back asleep", says Revell.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Remember that the discomfort from flying—especially long-haul—can leave you tired and groggy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
“Some people are really tired and groggy when they go through inspection, and they don’t do a good job explaining their real situation,” he says.
From Slate ● May 26, 2025
My alarm blares its generic Apple chime, and I keep hitting snooze—only to wake up groggy, drained, and unmotivated to make the most of the dwindling daylight.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2025
I was still a little groggy when Alice came running up the steps and into the attic to get me.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
I figured that I was just groggier than usual.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2018
Hibs looked groggier still as they went 2-0 down.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2017
But for nearly all who have strained to establish a new routine, resetting their alarms for an earlier, groggier morning, the stifled commute from Hoboken to New York City remains uniquely vexing.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2012
But he said it was nearly universal that anesthesiologists were being forced to use less familiar medications that leave patients groggier and with a higher risk of nausea and headaches.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2010
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.
