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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sleepy
The goal is to evolve The Really Useful Group from a sleepy theater company into an entertainment powerhouse with a hand in everything from gaming to movies to consumer products.
—
Brent Lang, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
By the time morning arrives in the sleepy hamlet of Maybrook, Pennsylvania only one student, Alexy Lilly (Cary Christopher) remains.
—Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Exiting the broadband business over time while the other businesses continue to grow could be a plus for the company as it will no longer be viewed as a sleepy broadband communications business.
—Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 9 Aug. 2025
The sleepy, mostly residential southeastern Brooklyn neighborhood has a relatively small population.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Brent Lang, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
By the time morning arrives in the sleepy hamlet of Maybrook, Pennsylvania only one student, Alexy Lilly (Cary Christopher) remains.
—Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
Exiting the broadband business over time while the other businesses continue to grow could be a plus for the company as it will no longer be viewed as a sleepy broadband communications business.
—Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 9 Aug. 2025
The sleepy, mostly residential southeastern Brooklyn neighborhood has a relatively small population.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleepy
Adjective
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And so to their kits, which more often than not are just not especially interesting: take this away strip, with its mid-2000s retro styling and pleasant off-white piping, but is just…quite dull.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
24 Aug. 2025
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Harsh chemicals like bleach and ammonia can strip the finish and dull the surface, leaving the floor prone to scratches and other damage.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Heretic Dirty Vanilla does just that, surrounding a vanilla note with woods and vetiver for a hypnotic, slightly animalic scent.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
13 Aug. 2025
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The result is a magnificent mess: hypnotic to watch, brimming with ideas, and strangely hollow.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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New York lawmakers are proposing rules to humanely drive down the population of rats and other rodents, eyeing contraception and a ban on glue traps as alternatives to poison or a slow, brutal death.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Aug. 2025
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One instance sees a ghastly spectral soldier filling a stream with all the lost souls of the enemies the player has killed so far, but the battle itself is just a slow walk to the end that’s exhausting to trudge through.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
During the resting phase, hair stops growing and will shed, or fall out.—
Jessica Swirble,
Verywell Health,
10 July 2025
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Telogen Stage The telogen stage of the hair cycle is a resting phase, during which the hair doesn't grow, and the follicle is dormant.1 About 10% to 15% of the hairs on your body are in this resting phase at any one time, which typically lasts for a few months.—
Nancy LeBrun,
Verywell Health,
13 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Nearby, Splash Resort draws families and retirees alike with spacious, beachfront units and kid-friendly perks like an indoor water park, a lazy river, and a dive-in movie theater.—
Carrie Honaker,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Aug. 2025
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In water, adults enjoy Aurora’s partnership with SCUBA SHACK, Anguilla’s only PADI 5-Star Dive Resort, while kids find their heaven at the massive waterpark, complete with slides and a lazy river.—
Baz Dreisinger,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Almost 700 crashes have been caused by drowsy semi-truck drivers statewide since 2015, resulting in around 350 injuries and two fatalities, according to the release.—
Annie Goldman,
The Enquirer,
31 July 2025
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The driver in a crash along Interstate 25 near Mead that closed the roadway for 11 hours on May 29 appeared to be drowsy, according to a Colorado State Patrol crash report.—
Jessica Alvarado Gamez,
Denver Post,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Collectively, beleaguered grids and logistical challenges means those sweaty nights and lethargic days risk becoming part and parcel of European summers.—
Taco Engelaar,
Fortune,
11 Aug. 2025
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Well, that came to an end in Game 5 as McDavid was slowed as part of a mostly lethargic pace throughout the night.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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Alan Fox’s script is rife with clunkers (the somnolent Ilfenesh Hadera, as David’s wife Pam, explains with haunting detail which items of decor on the dining table can be moved where by the police), and the intrusive score is the equivalent of garish wall-to-wall carpeting.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
20 May 2025
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While there are a half-dozen or so worthy books on the list, most of them are somnolent doctoral theses that probably should not have been acquired in the first place.—
George Liebmann,
Baltimore Sun,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleepy. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
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