sleepy

English

Etymology

From Middle English slepy, from Old English *slǣpiġ (attested in unslǣpiġ (“not sleepy, sleepless”)), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpag (“sleepy”), equivalent to sleep +‎ -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian släipich (“sleepy”), West Frisian sliepich (“sleepy”), Middle Dutch slapig, slêpig, slapich (“sleepy”), Middle Low German slâpich, Middle High German slāfec (> archaic German schlafig (“sleepy”)).

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)
IPA^(key): /ˈsliːpi/
Rhymes: -iːpi

Adjective

sleepy (comparative sleepier, superlative sleepiest)

Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
Synonyms: tired; see also Thesaurus:sleepy
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Cymon and Iphigenia, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
  She wak'd her sleepy crew.
Suggesting tiredness.
- 1994, Stephen Fry, The Hippopotamus Chapter 2
  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.
Tending to induce sleep.
Synonym: soporific
a sleepy drink or potion
(figurative) Dull; lazy.
Synonyms: heavy, sluggish
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene v]:
  'Tis not sleepy business;
  But must be looked to speedily and strongly.
(figurative) Quiet; without bustle or activity.
a sleepy English village
- 2021 August 30, “Armed robbers take hostages in deadly bank raids in Brazil city”, in The Guardian‎:
  Experts believe a pandemic welfare programme for poorer Brazilians has encouraged robbers to plan bold raids in sleepy regional cities where bank branches are storing more cash.
- 2022 September 23, Pjotr Sauer, Dan Sabbagh, “Border queues build as people flee Russia to escape Putin’s call-up”, in The Guardian‎:
  Usually sleepy border crossings into Kazakhstan and Mongolia have also been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of Russians looking for a way out.

Translations

feeling the need for sleep

Albanian: përgjumur (sq)
Arabic: نَعْسَان‎ (naʿsān), نَاعِس‎ (nāʿis)
Egyptian Arabic: نعسان‎ (naʿsān)
Hijazi Arabic: نعسان‎ (naʿsān)
Armenian: քնկոտ (hy) (kʿnkot)
Aromanian: somnos
Belarusian: со́нны (sónny), заспа́ны (zaspány), пазаспа́ны (pazaspány), санлі́вы (sanlívy), драмлі́вы (dramlívy)
Bulgarian: сънли́в (bg) (sǎnlív), съ́нен (bg) (sǎ́nen)
Catalan: somnolent
Chinese:
Cantonese: 眼瞓, 眼𰥛 (ngaan⁵ fan³)
Mandarin: 昏昏欲睡 (zh) (hūnhūnyùshuì), 睏／困 (zh) (kùn), 瞌睡 (zh) (kēshuì), 睏倦／困倦 (zh) (kùnjuàn)
Min Nan: 啄龜 (zh-min-nan) (tok-ku), 盹瞌睡 (zh-min-nan) (tuh-ka-tsuē), 愛睏 (zh-min-nan), 爱困 (ài-khùn)
Teochew: 目澀 (mag8 siab4)
Czech: ospalý (cs)
Danish: søvnig (da), træt (da)
Dutch: slaperig (nl)
Esperanto: dormema
Estonian: unine
Finnish: uninen (fi), unelias
French: somnolent (fr) m, ensommeillé (fr) m, ensuqué (fr)
Galician: durmiñento
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: schläfrig (de)
Greek: νυσταγμένος (el) (nystagménos), νυσταλέος (el) (nystaléos)
Ancient: νυσταλέος (nustaléos), ὑπνωτικός (hupnōtikós)
Hebrew: מנומנם / מְנֻמְנָם‎ (m'numnám)
Hindi: उनींदा (hi) (unīndā), निद्रालु (hi) (nidrālu)
Hungarian: álmos (hu)
Icelandic: syfjaður, þreyttur (is)
Indonesian: mengantuk (id), ngantuk
Irish: codlatach, suanmhar, néalmhar
Italian: assonnato (it), sonnolento (it)
Japanese: 眠い (ja) (ねむい, nemui), 眠たい (ねむたい, nemutai)
Kazakh: ұйқышыл (ūiqyşyl), ұйқылы (ūiqyly)
Khmer: ងងុយដេក (ngɔnguy deek)
Korean: 졸리다 (ko) (jollida)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: خەو ھاتن‎ (xew hatin)
Kyrgyz: уйкучул (uykuçul), уйкулуу (ky) (uykuluu)
Latin: sopōrus, somnolentus, somniculōsus
Latvian: miegains
Lithuanian: mieguistas
Lushootseed: ʔəxʷʔitutəb
Macedonian: сонлив (sonliv), поспан (pospan)
Malay: mengantuk
Maori: hāmoemoe, turamoe, hinamoe, ohere
Mbyá Guaraní: opeýi
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: нойрмог (mn) (nojrmog)
Navajo: bił nízin
Norwegian: trøtt (no), døsig, søvnig (no)
Bokmål: trett, søvnig (no)
Nynorsk: søvnug
Persian: خواب آلود‎ (xâb âlud)
Plautdietsch: schleeprich
Polish: senny (pl), śpiący (pl)
Portuguese: sonolento (pt), com sono
Romanian: somnoros (ro), somnolent (ro) m or n
Russian: со́нный (ru) (sónnyj), сонли́вый (ru) (sonlívyj), за́спанный (ru) (záspannyj), дремли́вый (ru) (dremlívyj)
Scottish Gaelic: suaineach
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: по̏спа̄н, са̀њив, дрѐмљив
Roman: pȍspān (sh), sànjiv (sh), drèmljiv (sh)
Shor: уйғулығ (uyğulığ)
Slovak: ospalý
Slovene: zaspan
Spanish: sueño (es), cansado (es), adormecido (es), soñoliento (es) m
Swedish: trött (sv), sömnig (sv), pömsig (sv)
Tagalog: inaantok
Tajik: хоболуд (xobolud)
Tamil: மந்தமான (ta) (mantamāṉa)
Thai: เหนื่อย (th) (nʉ̀ai), ง่วง (th) (ngûuang)
Tibetan: གཉིད་བྲོ (gnyid bro)
Ukrainian: со́нний (sónnyj), за́спаний (záspanyj), сонли́вий (sonlývyj), оспа́лий (ospályj), мля́вий (mljávyj)
Welsh: cysglyd (cy)
Yiddish: שלעפֿעריק‎ (shleferik)
Zhuang: suiz

suggesting tiredness

Bulgarian: съ́нен (bg) (sǎ́nen)
Finnish: uninen (fi), väsynyt (fi)
French: endormi (fr)

quiet; without bustle or activity

Bulgarian: заспа́л (bg) (zaspál)
Finnish: unelias, hiljainen (fi)
Galician: durmiñento
German: verschlafen (de)

Noun

sleepy (uncountable)

(informal) The gum that builds up in the eye; sleep, gound.
- 1964, Ken Kesey, Sometimes a Great Notion:
  "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 […]
- 1991, Martin Amis, London Fields:
  But the nightdress was heavy, the sleepy in her eyes was heavy, her hair (she made a mustache of one of its locks) was heavy and smelled of cigarettes […]
Synonym: (which see for more) sleep

Anagrams

Epleys