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 president endorsed their challengers and his allies spent millions of dollars in what are normally sleepy state legislative races.
—
Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 6 May 2026
American restaurant Third Street Social opened Thursday, bringing a steady crowd to downtown Olathe, which has been long known as a sleepy area.
—Kansas City Star, 4 May 2026
In those sleepy unstaffed stations, passengers routinely board and the train starts moving again before the conductor ever makes contact or scans their tickets.
—CBS News, 1 May 2026
On this day in 1943, a body was dropped in the ocean near the sleepy shores of Huelva, Spain.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 6 May 2026
American restaurant Third Street Social opened Thursday, bringing a steady crowd to downtown Olathe, which has been long known as a sleepy area.
—Kansas City Star, 4 May 2026
In those sleepy unstaffed stations, passengers routinely board and the train starts moving again before the conductor ever makes contact or scans their tickets.
—CBS News, 1 May 2026
On this day in 1943, a body was dropped in the ocean near the sleepy shores of Huelva, Spain.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sleepy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sleepy
Adjective
-
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
-
The world of college football is rarely dull.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
-
This charger brings interactivity and enthusiasm to this process that has been viewed as so dull for so long.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
The prose is hypnotic, all the more so for its many digressions and parentheses, unveiling tiny set pieces like so many Fabergé eggs.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
-
The race there begins somberly in the museum before runners bound up one flight of stairs into a hallway that leads into the main stairwell; from there, the steps settle into continuous, shallow right turns providing a repetitive, hypnotic cadence.—
Michelle Sinclair Colman,
Curbed,
7 May 2026
Adjective
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Scratching high on the bridge, Werner’s splintering fiddle calls to mind the slow, magical hatching of an egg.—
Lily Goldberg,
Pitchfork,
22 May 2026
-
The better play is slower and pays back forever.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
22 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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Basically, the lazy person’s way to a six pack.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 May 2026
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What’s more, over the next few months, the ChatGPT users got lazier with each essay, ultimately resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.—
Aytekin Tank,
Forbes.com,
22 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
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But Avedon, an artist who became a legend by making motionless images feel vibrant and frenetic, lends himself uniquely well to the format.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
17 May 2026
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After a puff of smoke, the calf fell to its side, appearing motionless.—
Susanne Rust
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sleepy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sleepy. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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