sleepy
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *slēpaz
Proto-West Germanic *slāp
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Proto-West Germanic *slāpag
Old English *slǣpiġ
Middle English slepy
English sleepy
From Middle English slepy, from Old English *slǣpiġ (attested in unslǣpiġ (“sleepless”)), from Proto-West Germanic *slāpag (“sleepy”), equivalent to sleep + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian släipich (“sleepy”), West Frisian sliepich (“sleepy”), dialectal Dutch slapig, slepig (“sleepy”), German Low German slapig, släpig, slöpig (“sleepy”), archaic German schlafig (“sleepy”).
Base: sleep
Affixes: -y
Inflected forms:
form: sleepier
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: sleepiest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: sleeby
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: sleepies
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
pos: adj
examples: She wak'd her sleepy crew.
gloss: Suggesting tiredness.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
gloss: Tending to induce sleep.
pos: adj
examples: a sleepy drink or potion
[T]he yong L. Roger Mortimer, […] hauing corrupted his Keepers, or (as ſome others vvrite) hauing potioned them vvith a ſleepy drinke, eſcaped out of the Tovver of London, getting ouer clearely vvithout any empeachment into France.
gloss: Dull; lazy.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: 'Tis not sleepy business;
But must be looked to speedily and strongly.
gloss: Quiet; without bustle or activity.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: a sleepy English village
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.
Usually sleepy border crossings into Kazakhstan and Mongolia have also been overwhelmed by the sudden influx of Russians looking for a way out.
Despite Horwich's international fame as a centre of railway engineering, Horwich station itself was usually quite a sleepy place.
The meeting has put Pakistan at the center of the biggest story in the world, spotlighting its normally sleepy capital that has been preparing for days for high-profile delegations to arrive.
gloss: The gum that builds up in the eye; sleep, gound.
pos: noun
tags: in-plural
informal
uncountable
examples: "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 […]
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 […]
gloss: Shingleback.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
countable
uncountable
Synonyms: adrowse
bedroomy
dozy
dopey
dragging one's tail
drowsy
eyelids at half-mast
nodding off
oscitant
out of steam
sleepbound
sleepish
sleepy
slombry
snoozy
slumberful
slumberous
slumbersome
slumbery
somniculous
somnolent
somnolescent
tired
Antonyms: nonsleepy
unsleepy
Related words: sleep
Derived words: eep
eepy
nonsleepy
sleepily
sleepiness
sleepy-bye
sleepy-byes
sleepy catchfly
sleepy cod
sleepy crab
sleepy distemper
sleepy dust
sleepy-dust
sleepy goby
sleepy head
sleepyhead
Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Joe
sleepy lizard
sleepy sand
sleepy sickness
sleepytime
sleepy underwing
unsleepy
Translations: