Meaning
Weak, dazed, and unsteady, typically because of interrupted sleep, illness, medication, or fatigue; very common in 'feeling groggy'. The word once specifically meant drunk, but alcohol is now rarely part of the sense. Neutral and everyday; strongly associated with the aftermath of poor sleep, illness, or drugs rather than alcohol today. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The word comes from grog, sailors' name for rum diluted with water, which in turn came from Admiral Edward Vernon (1684-1757): he wore a grogram cloak, was nicknamed Old Grog, and in August 1740 ordered the Royal Navy rum ration served watered-down to curb drunkenness. The drink name is recorded from 1749, and groggy first appears in print in 1770 in The Gentleman's Magazine's list of eighty words for being drunk, glossed there as a West Indian phrase. The transferred sober sense of shaky or tottering, originally boxing slang, is dated to 1832 and is now the dominant meaning. The Navy's rum ration itself was abolished in 1970.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- groggily (adverb)
- grogginess (noun)
Usage Examples
- Still groggy from the anaesthetic, she could not remember which floor her room was on.
- He waved goodnight, too groggy after the red-eye flight to hold a conversation.
- The new medication left me groggy every morning, so I switched to taking it at night.