siesta

plural siestas

1. countableA nap, especially an afternoon one taken during the hottest part of the day in some cultures.

   When it's time for siesta, you can watch them go by / Beautiful faces, no cares in this world

   1986, “La Isla Bonita”, in True Blue, performed by Madonna

   1 more example

   One humid afternoon a visitor did arrive to disturb Rottcodd as he lay deeply hammocked, for his siesta was broken sharply by a rattling of the door handle […]

   1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, →OCLC

2. attributiveoffensivesometimesLaid-back attitudes to work or laziness, especially by a Hispanic person.

   I had eaten a simple lunch, and in the relaxed siesta attitude that pervaded the place I settled back in my chair and looked at the mountains behind in all their austerity.

   2010 February 22, Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, Vol. 7: Our Own Time, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, →ISBN, page 238

   2 more examples

   Lest we think all of this is due to the proverbial inefficiency of the Latin American - 'siesta people' - we can see some of these signs, perhaps in a less dramatic way, in European societies and in the celebrated 'tigers' of South East Asia.

   2001 February 1, Stanley E. Porter, Michael A. Hayes, David Tombs, Faith in the Millennium, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 21

   Many observers believe the subtropical environment contributes to a slow-paced, siesta culture in which nothing work-related is so important that it cannot wait until tomorrow.

   2021 April 14, Michael J. Strada, Through the Global Lens: An Introduction to Social Sciences, Routledge, →ISBN

   Synonyms: mañana

present singular third person siestas · participle present siestaing · participle past siestaed · past siestaed

1. intransitiveTo take a siesta; to nap.

   If you would rather shear sheep and stalk vampires than sunbathe or siesta, here’s 25 breaks that could be a real trip

   2016 August 14, Dara Flynn, “A different direction”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Sep 2026, page 17

   Synonyms: siest