Standard Lemma guide

drowsy

adj · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdɹaʊzi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aʊzi
  • CMU ARPABET: D R AW1 Z IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Inclined to drowse; heavy with sleepiness

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I was feeling drowsy and so decided to make a cup of coffee to try to wake myself up.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lethargic, dozy, adrowse, bedroomy, 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: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Causing someone to fall sleep or feel sleepy; lulling; soporific.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • It was a warm, drowsy summer afternoon.
  • drowsy medicine

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hypnotic, somnolent, dormitive, hypnic, slumberous, somniferous, somnific, soporiferous, soporific, soporous, stupefacient, stupefactive, tranquilizing, vapid

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Boring.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: monotonous, tedious, banal, basic, beat, blah, commonplace, bland, boring, cold, colourless, corny, drab, stuffy, dreich, drowsy, dull, dull as dishwater, flat, heavy going, ho-hum, humdrum, insipid, lackluster, lame, languid, lifeless, longsome, mundane, no fun at parties, plain, plodding, prosaic, prosy, pedantic, pedestrian, static, straightforward, snoozeworthy, soporific, uncool, wan, weaksauce, wooden, uninteresting, stodgy, vapid, vanilla

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Dull; stupid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dozy, vacant, addlebrained, addlepated, airheaded, bee-brained, beef-witted, beefheaded, beetle-headed, birdbrained, blockheaded, Boeotian, boneheaded, boofheaded, braindead, brainless, bubbleheaded, buffle-headed, bullet-headed, cerebrally challenged, childish, chowderheaded, chuckleheaded, crackbrained, cretinous, daft, dense, dented, dim-bulb, dim-headed, dim-witted, dim, doltish, dopey, drowsy, dull-headed, dull-minded, dull-witted, dull, dumber than a box of rocks, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatheaded, feeble-minded, flea-brained, foolish, fuzzy-headed, fuzzy-minded, goofy, half-brained, half-witted, hammer-headed, idiotic, ignorant, imbecilic, inane, insipid, intellectually challenged, knuckleheaded, lamebrained, lowbrow, lumpish, lunkheaded, mentally challenged, mentally retarded, mindless, monosynaptic, moronic, muttonheaded, nitwitted, numbskulled, oafish, obtuse, peabrained, pratty, pudding-headed, puerile, purblind, quarter-witted, retarded, ridiculous, rockheaded, sharp as a bowling ball, sheep-headed, silly, simple, slow, slow on the uptake, slow-witted, smooth-brained, stolid, stupid, thick-skulled, thickheaded, thickwitted, thick, unapprehensive, unclever, uninformed, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, witless, wooden-headed, wool-headed, woolly-headed, woolly-minded, dumb as a bag of hammers, dumb as a box of rocks, dumb as a doorknob, dumb as an ox, dumb as a post, dumb as a sack of hammers, dumb as dirt, dumber than a rock, not the sharpest crayon in the box, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, not the sharpest tool in the shed, thick as a brick, thick as a plank, thick as champ, thick as mince, thick as two short planks, thick as a whale omelette, ass-brained, fuckwitted, shit-for-brains, thick as pig shit

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

showing lack of attention or boredom

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the yawning congregation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oscitant, yawning(a)

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

half asleep

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • made drowsy by the long ride
  • it seemed a pity to disturb the drowsing (or dozing) professor
  • a tired dozy child
  • the nodding (or napping) grandmother in her rocking chair

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drowsing(a), dozy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From drowse + -y, despite the fact that drowsy (1520) is recorded before drowse (1570). Compare Old English drūsian (“to droop, drowse, become languid”).

Across languages

Translations

94 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: përgjumur — inclined to drowse
  • Amharic: የሚጫጫን (yämič̣ač̣an) — inclined to drowse
  • Arabic: نَعْسَان (naʕsān) — inclined to drowse
  • Bulgarian: сънлив (sǎnliv) — inclined to drowse
  • Catalan: somnolent — inclined to drowse
  • Chinese Mandarin: 想睡 (xiǎng shuì) — inclined to drowse
  • Chinese Mandarin: 昏昏欲睡 (hūnhūnyùshuì) — inclined to drowse
  • Chinese Mandarin: 睏 /困 (kùn) — inclined to drowse
  • Czech: ospalý — inclined to drowse
  • Dutch: slaperig — inclined to drowse
  • Esperanto: dormema — inclined to drowse
  • Finnish: unelias — inclined to drowse
  • French: ensommeillé — inclined to drowse
  • French: somnolent — inclined to drowse
  • Galician: durmiñento — inclined to drowse
  • German: schläfrig — inclined to drowse
  • Greek: νυσταγμένος (nystagménos) — inclined to drowse
  • Irish: codlatach — inclined to drowse
  • Irish: suanmhar — inclined to drowse
  • Irish: néalmhar — inclined to drowse
  • Irish: sámh — inclined to drowse
  • Italian: insonnolito — inclined to drowse
  • Italian: assonnato — inclined to drowse
  • Japanese: 眠い (nemui) — inclined to drowse
  • Japanese: 眠たい (nemutai) — inclined to drowse
  • Latin: sopōrus — inclined to drowse
  • Latin: somnolentus — inclined to drowse
  • Latin: somniculōsus — inclined to drowse
  • Latvian: miegains — inclined to drowse
  • Lithuanian: mieguistas — inclined to drowse
  • Macedonian: со́нлив (sónliv) — inclined to drowse
  • Māori: pōuruuru — inclined to drowse
  • Māori: hāmoemoe — inclined to drowse
  • Māori: hiamoe — inclined to drowse
  • Māori: hinamoe — inclined to drowse
  • Māori: harotu — inclined to drowse
  • Persian: خواب و بیدار، نیمه خواب — inclined to drowse
  • Polish: senny — inclined to drowse
  • Polish: ospały — inclined to drowse
  • Portuguese: sonolento — inclined to drowse
  • Portuguese: modorrento — inclined to drowse
  • Russian: со́нный (sónnyj) — inclined to drowse
  • Russian: сонли́вый (sonlívyj) — inclined to drowse
  • Russian: за́спанный (záspannyj) — inclined to drowse
  • Scottish Gaelic: suaineach — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̏спа̄н — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: са̀њив — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: дрѐмљив — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: pȍspān — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: sànjiv — inclined to drowse
  • Serbo-Croatian: drèmljiv — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: adormecido — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: soñoliento — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: somnoliento — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: dormijoso (desus.) — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: adormilado — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: adormitado — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: aletargado — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: amodorrado — inclined to drowse
  • Spanish: amodorrido — inclined to drowse
  • Sundanese: lulungu — inclined to drowse
  • Swedish: dåsig — inclined to drowse
  • Ottoman Turkish: مخمور (mahmur) — inclined to drowse
  • Ottoman Turkish: طالغین (dalgın) — inclined to drowse
  • Welsh: cysglyd — inclined to drowse
  • Bulgarian: приспивателен (prispivatelen) — disposing to sleep
  • Czech: uspávající — disposing to sleep
  • Finnish: unettava — disposing to sleep
  • Finnish: nukuttava — disposing to sleep
  • French: soporifique — disposing to sleep
  • German: einschläfernd — disposing to sleep
  • Italian: soporifero — disposing to sleep
  • Macedonian: дре́млив (drémliv) — disposing to sleep
  • Māori: harotu — disposing to sleep
  • Māori: pōuruuru — disposing to sleep
  • Russian: усыпля́ющий (usypljájuščij) — disposing to sleep
  • Russian: снотво́рный (snotvórnyj) — disposing to sleep
  • Scottish Gaelic: suaineach — disposing to sleep
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̏спа̄н — disposing to sleep
  • Serbo-Croatian: дрѐмљив — disposing to sleep
  • Serbo-Croatian: pȍspān — disposing to sleep
  • Serbo-Croatian: drèmljiv — disposing to sleep
  • Spanish: somnífero — disposing to sleep
  • Spanish: soñoliento — disposing to sleep
  • Spanish: soporífero — disposing to sleep
  • German: müde — boring
  • German: langweilig — boring
  • German: verschlafen — boring
  • Portuguese: modorrento — boring
  • Russian: ну́дный (núdnyj) — boring
  • French: stupide — dull, stupid
  • German: dösig — dull, stupid
  • Portuguese: modorrento — dull, stupid
  • Russian: ну́дный (núdnyj) — dull, stupid