different between sleepy vs listless

English

Etymology

sleep +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sli?pi/
• Rhymes: -i?pi

Adjective

sleepy (comparative sleepier, superlative sleepiest)

1. Tired; feeling the need for sleep.

   • She wak'd her sleepy crew.

2. Suggesting tiredness.
   • 1994, Stephen Fry, The Hippopotamus Chapter 2

     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; soporific.

   a sleepy drink or potion

4. Dull; lazy; heavy; sluggish.
5. Quiet; without bustle or activity.

   a sleepy English village

Synonyms

• tired
• See also Thesaurus:sleepy

Translations

Noun

sleepy (uncountable)

1. (informal) The gum that builds up in the eye; sleep, gound.

   Synonym: (which see for more) sleep

Anagrams

• Epleys

English

Etymology

From Middle English lystles, equivalent to list (“desire”) +? -less. Compare Dutch lusteloos (“lethargic, listless”). Doublet of lustless.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?stl?s/

Adjective

listless (comparative more listless, superlative most listless)

1. Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
   • 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, ch. 18:

     I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless.

   • 1861, Charlotte M. Yonge, The Stokesley Secret, ch. 6:

     What an entirely different set of beings were those Stokesley children in lesson-time. . . . Poor, listless, stolid, deplorable logs, with bowed backs and crossed ankles, pipy voices and heavy eyes!

   • 1901, William Somerset Maugham, The Hero, ch. 21:

     The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.

   • 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, "John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time:

     “Listless, inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”

Derived terms

• listlessly
• listlessness

Translations

Anagrams

• slitless