Join In Twitter YouTube Weekly Newsletter Libraries A-Z Grammatical Terms A-Z Confused Words FAQs by Writers A-Z Awkward Plurals Punctuation Lessons Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser

Groggy (Origin)

by Craig Shrives

What Is the Origin of the Saying "Groggy"?

Meaning unwell the term groggy denotes a hangover from the alcoholic drink grog. The word grog comes from "Old Grog," which was the nickname sailors gave to Admiral Vernon, the commander in chief of the West Indies. Admiral Vernon was renowned for watering down his sailors' rum ration. This watered down rum become known as grog.

Table of Contents

English Proverbs and Idioms Test
More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms

Examples of Use:

After a night of little sleep, she woke up feeling groggy and disoriented.
He struggled to concentrate in the morning because he was still feeling groggy from the medication.
Walking up the stairs after a long workout left her feeling groggy and out of breath.
The effects of jet lag made him feel groggy and off balance for the first few days of his trip.
She had a late night studying for exams, so she felt groggy and drowsy throughout the day.

Previous and Next Sayings

English Proverbs and Idioms Test

Ready for the Test?

More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms

Help Us Improve Grammar Monster

Do you disagree with something on this page?
Did you spot a typo?

Find Us Quicker!

When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.

Suitable for: Teachers, advanced students, and business writers.

Description: Published by London's Octopus Publishing, "Smashing Grammar" is the third, and most comprehensive, grammar reference book written by Craig Shrives (the founder of the Grammar-Monster.com). It is divided into three sections: