sleepier; sleepiest
1
a
: ready to fall asleep
b
: of, relating to, or characteristic of sleep
2
: sluggish as if from sleep : lethargic
also : having little activity
a sleepy coastal village
3
: sleep-inducing
sleepily adverb
sleepiness noun

Examples of sleepy in a Sentence

She felt sleepy and went to bed. the sleepy children were carried up to bed
Recent Examples on the Web This was a sleepy town that had never seen crimes like this. Megan Vick, EW.com, 28 Sep. 2024 Jets 14, Patriots 3 Rohan Nadkarni The Jets are dominating a sleepy game so far. Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 20 Sep. 2024 But on Thursday afternoon, in what started as a sleepy matinee at loanDepot Park in central Miami, none of those terms quite captured the most defining performance of Ohtani’s baseball life. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2024 That's great news for the EV industry after a sleepy 2024, and could help get more customers to dealerships. Emily Dreibelbis, PCMAG, 18 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for sleepy 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sleepy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of sleepy was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near sleepy

Cite this Entry

“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sleepy. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

sleepy

adjective
sleepier; sleepiest
1
: ready to fall asleep
2
: quietly inactive
a sleepy village
sleepily adverb
sleepiness noun

Medical Definition

sleepy

adjective
sleepier; sleepiest
: ready to fall asleep
sleepiness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on sleepy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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