English edit

 
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Etymology edit

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 edit

  • (file)
  • IPA(key): /ˈsliːpi/
  • Rhymes: -iːpi

Adjective edit

sleepy (comparative sleepier, superlative sleepiest)

  1. Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
    Synonyms: tired; see also Thesaurus:sleepy
  2. Suggesting tiredness.
    • 1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus:
      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.
  3. Tending to induce sleep.
    Synonym: soporific
    a sleepy drink or potion
  4. (figurative) Dull; lazy.
    Synonyms: heavy, sluggish
  5. (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[1]:
      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[2]:
      Usually sleepy border crossings into Kazakhstan and Mongolia have also been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of Russians looking for a way out.
    • 2023 March 8, Paul Salveson, “Fond farewells to two final trains...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 54:
      Despite Horwich's international fame as a centre of railway engineering, Horwich station itself was usually quite a sleepy place.

Alternative forms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Noun edit

sleepy (countable and uncountable, plural sleepies)

  1. (informal, uncountable or in the plural) The gum that builds up in the eye; sleep, gound.
    Synonym: (which see for more) sleep
    • 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 []
  2. (Australia) Shingleback.

Anagrams edit