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Sleepy vs Idle - What's the difference?

sleepy | idle | Related terms |

Sleepy is a related term of idle.


As adjectives the difference between sleepy and idle

is that sleepy is tired; feeling the need for sleep while idle is (lb) empty, vacant.

As a noun sleepy

is (informal) the gum that builds up in the eye.

As a verb idle is

to spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.

sleepy

English

(wikipedia sleepy)

Adjective

(er)
  • Tired; feeling the need for sleep.
  • * Dryden
    • She wak'd her sleepy crew.
  • 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 decorationsas the tree had recovered from the collision.
  • Tending to induce sleep; soporific.
    • a sleepy drink or potion
  • Dull; lazy; heavy; sluggish.
  • * William Shakespeare
    • 'Tis not sleepy business; / But must be looked to speedily and strongly.
  • Quiet; without bustle or activity.
    • a sleepy English village

    Synonyms

    * tired * See also

    Noun

    (-)
  • (informal) The gum that builds up in the eye
  • * 1964 , Ken Kesey, Sometimes a great notion
    • "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...
  • * 1991 , Martin Amis, London fields
    • 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...

    idle

    English

    (wikipedia idle)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (lb) Empty, vacant.
  • Not turned to appropriate use; not occupied.
  • :
  • Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
  • Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
  • :
  • *
  • *:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle , brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,!”
  • Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
  • :
  • (lb) Light-headed; foolish.
  • :(Ford)

    • Derived terms

    * idle hands are the devil's workshop * idle pulley * idle wheel

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

    (idl)
  • To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
  • To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
    • to idle in an IRC channel
  • * 1939 , Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)
    • He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo
  • Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

    • Related terms

    * idler

    References

    * *

    Anagrams

    * * *