adjective, drow·si·er, drow·si·est.
- half-asleep; sleepy.
- marked by or resulting from sleepiness.
- dull; sluggish.
- inducing lethargy or sleepiness: drowsy spring weather.
adjective drowsier or drowsiest
- heavy with sleepiness; sleepy
- inducing sleep; soporific
- sluggish or lethargic; dull
1520s, probably ultimately from Old English drusan, drusian “sink,” also “become languid, slow, or inactive” (related to dreosan “to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *drus- (see dreary). But there is no record of it in Middle English. Related: Drowsily; drowsiness.