somnolent
Americanadjective
-
sleepy; drowsy.
- Synonyms:
- slumberous
-
tending to cause sleep.
- Synonyms:
- soporific, somniferous
adjective
-
drowsy; sleepy
-
causing drowsiness
Other Word Forms
- hypersomnolence noun
- hypersomnolent adjective
- hypersomnolently adverb
- semisomnolence noun
- semisomnolent adjective
- semisomnolently adverb
- somnolence noun
- somnolency noun
- somnolently adverb
- unsomnolent adjective
- unsomnolently adverb
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.
Exoprojection in which the somnolent user is able to assume a conscious awareness of an ideal reality from the past.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
Set against the backdrop of a somnolent downtown, says Ms. Respress, the McPherson Square encampment feeds the impression that homelessness is exploding in D.C.
From Washington Post • Feb. 10, 2023
Telfaz11 started out on YouTube, where its videos hooked young Saudis looking for a hip alternative to the somnolent broadcast television.
From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2021
But it also brought youth, diversity and better wages — breathing new life into somnolent towns that had been losing population since the 1930s.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 5, 2021
She grew weak and somnolent, could spend hours lying in the shade looking up at the sun, uninterested in anything else.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
