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
Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge was a bit sleepy, but then Russell Henley woke up in a rather aggressive mood.
—
Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026
Williams has a special fondness for Saint-Tropez, which French film star Brigitte Bardot famously transformed from a sleepy fishing village to a magnet for jetsetters.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 31 May 2026
Children with the virus may be fussy and sleepy throughout the day, and cry without tears.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 29 May 2026
In the past year, he has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, frequently appeared sleepy during meetings, and regularly been photographed with dark bruises on his hands, which he's claimed are the result of taking heavy doses of aspirin.
—Kyler Alvord, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026
Williams has a special fondness for Saint-Tropez, which French film star Brigitte Bardot famously transformed from a sleepy fishing village to a magnet for jetsetters.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 31 May 2026
Children with the virus may be fussy and sleepy throughout the day, and cry without tears.
—Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 29 May 2026
In the past year, he has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, frequently appeared sleepy during meetings, and regularly been photographed with dark bruises on his hands, which he's claimed are the result of taking heavy doses of aspirin.
—Kyler Alvord, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleepy
Adjective
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An autopsy showed that the infant died from asphyxiation secondary to a co-sleeping/overlay event with an unsafe sleeping environment.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
And that would be a very dull experience.—
Alex Zalben,
IndieWire,
3 June 2026
-
And red decorations in urban bowers were more vivid, and the green items duller, than in rural bowers.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
The haunting and hypnotic story follows stepbrothers Niall (Mitchell Robertson as a teen, Jamie Bell as an adult) and Ruben (Stuart Campell as a teen, Gadd as an adult) over 30 years, as their uneasy yet unshakeable bond becomes an increasingly toxic relationship.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
29 May 2026
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Bay Area content creator Kane Parsons pushes back on conventional storytelling, and his hypnotic approach results in one of 2026’s most exhilarating debuts, a existential head trip that GoPros us into a human subconscious besieged by misshapen memories that trap and hold you hostage.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
28 May 2026
Adjective
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Recovery of the bodies has been slow because of the chemicals and other hazards present at the site, Amos explained.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
29 May 2026
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One of the most painful things about this disease is knowing that promising treatments are emerging, but funding barriers and manufacturing and procedural slow-downs continue to derail progress.—
Elise Esposito,
Boston Herald,
29 May 2026
Adjective
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That’s because when the body experiences physical stress, including losing weight quickly, more hairs can shift into a resting phase and fall out a few months later — typically two to three months after the event, Rossi explains.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
17 Feb. 2026
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This is a condition where, due to stress or hormonal changes, the body puts the hair follicles into a resting phase.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Inevitability can make companies lazy, investors less disciplined and entire industries mistake hype for adoption.—
Hebron Sher,
Fortune,
29 May 2026
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This is an off-duty look perfect for meeting up with friends, especially on lazy mornings.—
Kelsey Stiegman,
Glamour,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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Allergy drugs can ease those symptoms and make people drowsy, potentially offering relief from insomnia.—
Kara Smythe,
EverydayHealth.com,
15 May 2026
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Fleets that deployed the company's AI dash cams, which detect drowsy or distracted driving, saw a 73% reduction in accidents after 30 months, according to company data from more than 2,600 customers.—
TIME Contributors,
Time,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The February air was motionless, intangible.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
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Ambush hunting enables energy conservation while minimizing the risks associated with pursuit; remaining motionless in water for hours also costs comparatively little.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleepy. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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