sleepy

adjective

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\ ˈslē-pē

sleepier; sleepiest

Definition of sleepy

1a : 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

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Synonyms & Antonyms for sleepy

Synonyms

Antonyms

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 Buckeyes return to the spotlight as the teams’ formerly sleepy basketball rivalry revives. — Rachel Bachman, WSJ, "The Ohio State-Michigan Rivalry Is Peaking…in Basketball," 19 Feb. 2021 General Mills' meals and baking products, usually a steady but sleepy category for the company, tallied the largest year-over-year gains within its U.S. food market. — Kristen Leigh Painter, Star Tribune, "General Mills continues riding the stay-at-home wave, prepares for post-pandemic life," 17 Dec. 2020 Rosehip Teahouse's new single is anything but sleepy. — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, "New Music To Know: Feel Good Music," 16 Nov. 2020 But Biden seemed neither sleepy nor senile during the heated ninety-minute debate. — Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, "Trump at the Debate Was Like America in 2020: Not Winning," 23 Oct. 2020 Little boys, looking bored and sleepy, stood by watching. — Maria Varenikova, New York Times, "Virus Strands Hasidic Pilgrims on Ukraine-Belarus Border," 15 Sep. 2020 The influx of refugees has transformed Hamdayet from a sleepy hamlet with no electricity lines or running water into one thronged with humanitarian workers, journalists and security officers. — Abdi Latif Dahir, BostonGlobe.com, "In Sudan border town, desperate Ethiopians find ‘second mother country’," 13 Feb. 2021 After a fairly sleepy existence since its passage in 1996, Section 230 turned into an unlikely rallying cry for a subset of Republican politicians who disingenuously blamed it for letting social media platforms discriminate against conservatives. — Gilad Edelman, Wired, "Finally, an Interesting Proposal for Section 230 Reform," 5 Feb. 2021 Highways and tunnels connect nearby cities to the sleepy town with 1,300 people. — New York Times, "The Korean War Emptied the Town. Those Who Rebuilt It May Now Be Rewarded," 12 Jan. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sleepy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.