drunken

[ druhng-kuhn ]

adjective

1. intoxicated; drunk. drunk.

   Synonyms: besotted, tipsy, inebriate

   Antonyms: sober

2. given to drunkenness.
3. pertaining to, caused by, or marked by intoxication:

   a drunken quarrel.

drunken

/ ˈdrʌŋkən /

adjective

1. intoxicated with or as if with alcohol
2. frequently or habitually drunk
3. prenominal caused by or relating to alcoholic intoxication

   a drunken brawl

Usage Note

See drunk.

Derived Forms

• ˈdrunkenness, noun
• ˈdrunkenly, adverb

Other Words From

• drunken·ly adverb
• drunken·ness noun
• half-drunken adjective
• un·drunken adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drunken¹

Variant of drunk adj. and past participle

Example Sentences

Magistrates sit in judgment on cases involving petty thefts, drunken driving, domestic violence, assaults and disorderly conduct.

From ProPublica

He lost his license after a drunken-driving arrest in 2012, a bad decision that he’s still embarrassed about.

From Washington Post

The ruling, which lawyers involved said is the first of its kind in Virginia, applies only to the case of a man accused of violating court restrictions related to a drunken driving conviction.

From Washington Post

I’m told it feels like a Catholic wake where we think about the good times — the tailgating, a drunken celebration of life – and the bad times — the devastating art of loss the Chargers perfected.

From Voice of San Diego

The Real World is notorious for its conflicts—which, by the turn of the millennium, tended to mean drunken physical altercations between shirtless, bellowing muscle bros or sorority types in bandage dresses pulling each other’s hair out.

From Time

Think of it as Game of Thrones—if you subtract the sex and violence and add drunken revelry and singing.

From The Daily Beast

And we do mean drunken—in the keep your kids at home, pull the shades kind of drunken.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, it reminded me of a headline that once ran in The Onion: “Drunken Man Makes Interesting Point About Society.”

From The Daily Beast

“Adam and I rented a pink Cadillac and spent a super drunken weekend at Graceland about 20 years ago,” says Thompson.

From The Daily Beast

And Hitler looking like such a lout, a drunken lout, with that sort of ignorant sneer.

From The Daily Beast

Major Foster hastily collected sixty men and charged on the guns—so shamelessly abandoned by the order of a drunken commander.

From Project Gutenberg

The speech came to an abrupt end when, losing her balance, she fell to the ground, and lay there in drunken contentment.

From Project Gutenberg

The drunken Man staggered to his feet, and hiccupped vehemently in the face of the assembled Gods.

From Project Gutenberg

By the old law a drunken man who made a contract was still liable, and required to fulfill as a penalty for his conduct.

From Project Gutenberg

And at that moment Sangree arrived wrapped in a blanket and carrying his gun; he was still drunken with sleep.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• intoxicated