Etymologically
Log in

sleepy

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 23:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is formed from English sleep + -y;[2][3][4][5] Middle English had slepi, also spelled slepe.[6][3][7] Etymonline suggests that it may continue an unrecorded Old English *slæpig, noting that Old English had slæpor and slæpwerig in the sense "sleepy";[3] the OED and the MED compare unslǣpig (“sleepless”).[2][6] Similar formations are Middle Low German slapich, Middle Dutch slapich and Old High German slâfag.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by or belonging to sleep: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.[2] The sense "inclined to sleep, drowsy" is recorded before 1325 in Genesis and Exodus (He woren drunken and slepi).[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word described both the sleeper and things belonging to sleep.[2][6] Chaucer used it for "given to sleep, lethargic" (about 1384);[2] from 1398, in Trevisa, it also meant "inducing sleep", a sense now rare.[2][3] Figurative uses, "dormant, inactive", followed in the late 16th century,[4][2] as did sleepy-head for an idle, lazy person.[3] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "drowsy", "not awake", quoting the "sleepy grooms" of Macbeth, and "soporific".[8] Of morbid states it is recorded from 1623;[2] from the late 18th century a pear about to rot or cream that would not churn could be called sleepy.[4] The sense "quiet, without bustle", used of places, dates from 1813 in Etymonline[3] and 1851 in the OED;[2] Irving's Sleepy Hollow is from 1820.[3] In slang it meant worn threadbare (Grose, about 1786, punning on a coat that had lost its nap) and, in the United States, drunk.[9] English dialects formed plant names with it, such as Sleepy Dick for the star of Bethlehem in Lancashire.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – characterized by or belonging to sleep.[2]
  • before 1325 – inclined to sleep, drowsy.[2][6]
  • c. 1384 – given to sleep, lethargic, in Chaucer.[2]
  • 1398 – inducing sleep.[2]
  • 1570s – sleepy-head, a lazy person.[3]
  • 1597 – figurative uses.[2]
  • 1623 – of morbid states.[2]
  • 1813 – of places, quiet and unexciting.[3]
  • 1883 – sleepy lizard, an Australian skink.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Ready to fall asleep; drowsy: After the long drive the children were sleepy.[11][7][2]
  2. Showing drowsiness, or lacking alertness; sluggish, lethargic.[11][7]
  3. Of a place, quiet and without bustle: a sleepy fishing village.[11][2]
  4. Typical of or suggesting sleep: a sleepy smile.[7][2]
  5. (rare) Causing sleep; soporific.[11][2]

Word family

  • sleepily
  • sleepiness
  • sleepyhead
  • unsleepy
  • sleepy sickness

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins