DROWSINESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does drowsiness mean? 

• DROWSINESS (noun)
  The noun DROWSINESS has 1 sense:

1. a very sleepy state

  Familiarity information: DROWSINESS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DROWSINESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A very sleepy state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

drowsiness; sleepiness; somnolence

Context example:

sleepiness causes many driving accidents

Hypernyms ("drowsiness" is a kind of...):

temporary state (a state that continues for a limited time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drowsiness"):

oscitance; oscitancy (drowsiness and dullness manifested by yawning)

Derivation:

drowsy (half asleep)

 Context examples 

Most are mild, such as a stomach aches or drowsiness, and go away after you stop taking the drug.

(Drug Reactions, NIH)

A condition marked by drowsiness and an unusual lack of energy and mental alertness.

(Lethargy, NCI Dictionary)

It may lead to fatigue, drowsiness, and malaise thus causing impairment of the quality of life.

(Allergic Rhinitis, NCI Thesaurus)

The polymer is nontoxic, but exposure to the monomer can cause central and peripheral nervous system damage resulting in hallucinations, drowsiness and numbness in the hands and legs.

(Acrylamide, NCI Thesaurus)

In other experiments, the researchers found that Shisa7 also influenced the drowsiness and hypnotic effects of benzodiazepines.

(‘Sticky’ gene may help Valium calm nerves, National Institutes of Health)

Doxylamine succinate, an antihistamine, blocks the effects of histamine, thereby treating symptoms such as sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, itchy throat and causes drowsiness.

(Nyquil, NCI Thesaurus)

Sleep deficiency and daytime drowsiness are surprisingly widespread, with drowsiness affecting up to 20% of all children.

(Children Who Nap Are Happier, Have Higher IQ, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)