groggy
Americanadjective
-
dazed or staggering, as from exhaustion, blows, or drunkenness
-
faint or weak
Other Word Forms
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.
For the first 10 days onboard, I woke up groggy, stuffed and head pounding.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
Noah noted that traffic accidents appear to spike after the switch because drivers are groggy and thus less vigilant.
From Slate • Oct. 31, 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
The only hint of the turbulence Mogwai experienced comes on the groggy, distortion-washed 18 Volcanoes, where Braithwaite quietly sings: "Hope has come another day/Hold me close in every way."
From BBC • Jan. 28, 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
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.
