1
as in sleeping
desiring or needing sleep
the sleepy children were carried up to bed
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2
as in dull
slow to move or act
a sleepy little town on the coast
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3
as in hypnotic
tending to cause sleep
the sleepy drone of his voice made staying awake a challenge
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4
as in slow
lacking in gaiety, movement, or animation
a sleepy party that was mostly attended by the same boring people I work with
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of sleepy
Losing to the meandering Titans proved the sleepy description, breaking out a cornucopia of sluggishness.
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Larry Holder, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
When people wake up in darkness, hormones like cortisol might be higher, which might make people feel sleepier, Dr. Kin Yuen, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, and a fellow at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said in 2022.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2024
From sleepy 16th-century village to 21st-century internet sensation, Sułoszowa in southern Poland (population 6,000) earned millions of online fans after this aerial image of the one-road town went viral in 2020.
—Diane Cole, NPR, 27 Nov. 2024
In mid-October, in the sleepy Christian village of Aitou, high in the hills of northern Lebanon, an Israeli air strike destroyed Elie Alwan’s three-story home.
—Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sleepy 
Larry Holder, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
When people wake up in darkness, hormones like cortisol might be higher, which might make people feel sleepier, Dr. Kin Yuen, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, and a fellow at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said in 2022.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 2 Nov. 2024
From sleepy 16th-century village to 21st-century internet sensation, Sułoszowa in southern Poland (population 6,000) earned millions of online fans after this aerial image of the one-road town went viral in 2020.
—Diane Cole, NPR, 27 Nov. 2024
In mid-October, in the sleepy Christian village of Aitou, high in the hills of northern Lebanon, an Israeli air strike destroyed Elie Alwan’s three-story home.
—Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sleepy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleepy
Adjective
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While congressional hearings are often dull set pieces, this one offered a remarkably lively and informative discussion of the practicalities and opportunities facing America regarding space resources.Greg Autry, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
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For her, the glory of the honeymoon had been in the planning, the dreaming, the building up in her mind; what a letdown to find that Paris was just a place, that some days were full of chill gray drizzle, that the dull, thick bodies of other tourists blocked her from full joy.Lauren Groff, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Except as a form of hypnotic relaxation, even watching seems beside the point.Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
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Born January 12, 1935 in Montclair, New Jersey, George Kresge was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk’s crime solving comic strip Mandrake the Magician, whose work was based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique.Marc Berman, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The Wi-Fi will always be slow and the gossip will always be fast.Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2024
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Snow has been slow to arrive in Big Bear this year, but the long-term forecast calls for big changes.Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Green Bay could finish as high as sixth in the NFC if the resting Rams lose to the 49ers, potentially setting up a first-round matchup against the division-rival Lions.Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Jan. 2024
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In this condition, a lot of the hairs all over the scalp going into the resting phase all at once–this is seen clinically as an abrupt significant increase in shedding.Tatjana Freund, ELLE, 4 Aug. 2023
Adjective
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The durable 1,000-piece jigsaw is made of thick stock and high-quality art paper engineered to withstand lazy days of leisure.Jaclyn Trop, Robb Report, 11 Dec. 2024
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Work Ethic And Attitude Toward Employment To label Gen-Z as lazy without understanding their work ethic would be a disservice.Vikram Joshi, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Each of the systems is trained to pick up on different combinations of signs that a driver is drowsy.IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 26 Nov. 2024
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None of these measures will fly if the beliefs around drowsy driving do not change.Lieke ten Brummelhuis, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Pets with salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting.Kate Gibson, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2024
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Earlier this month, a post on a Bay View neighborhood Facebook group showed a lethargic raccoon near Delaware Avenue.Gina Lee Castro, Journal Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Returning to the somnolent complacency of years past is not an option.Elbridge Colby, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2019
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Neuroscientists have long had an explanation for our somnolent twitches.Amanda Gefter, The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2023
Thesaurus Entries Near sleepy
Cite this Entry
“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleepy. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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