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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There’s no better name for a Fort Worth barbecue joint, either, for like that apocryphal panther, the city’s once-sleepy barbecue scene has awakened and begun to roar. Robert F. Moss, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2025 For a young Federico Marchetti, growing up in this sleepy seaside town of 150,000 along the Adriatic coast, these masterpieces weren’t just tourist attractions but his first lessons in merging beauty and business. Pooja Shah, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025 The image of your mother being too sleepy to enjoy the spoils of her own hard work—or to even be fully present as her children enjoyed those spoils—struck me as such a succinct encapsulation of her sacrifice and her heroism, as well as their drawbacks. G'ra Asim september 16, Literary Hub, 16 Sep. 2025 Except that four years later, on The Hills, Lauren Conrad passed it up for a guy with frosted tips and sleepy vibes. Megan Angelo, Glamour, 11 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sleepy

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

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Cite this Entry

“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sleepy. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

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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