Sleepy
adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The gum that builds up in the eye; sleep, gound. in-plural, informal, uncountable
""Did he always leave the sleepy in his eyes?" "Never removed it; let it build up in the comers of his eyes over the weeks until it was heavy enough to fall […]"
- 2 Shingleback. Australia, countable, uncountable
- 1 Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
"She wak'd her sleepy crew."
- 2 Suggesting tiredness.
"At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. Disgusted with himself at such cowardice, he spat a needle from his mouth, stepped back from the tree and listened. There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision."
- 3 Tending to induce sleep.
"a sleepy drink or potion"
- 4 Dull; lazy. figuratively
"'Tis not sleepy business; But must be looked to speedily and strongly."
- 5 Quiet; without bustle or activity. figuratively
"a sleepy English village"
- 1 ready to fall asleep wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *slēpaz Proto-West Germanic *slāp Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Proto-West Germanic *slāpag Old English *slǣpiġ Middle English slepy English sleepy From Middle English slepy, from Old English *slǣpiġ (attested in unslǣpiġ (“sleepless”)), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpag (“sleepy”), equivalent to sleep + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian släipich (“sleepy”), West Frisian sliepich (“sleepy”), dialectal Dutch slapig, slepig (“sleepy”), German Low German slapig, släpig, slöpig (“sleepy”), archaic German schlafig (“sleepy”).