Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for drunk

drunk

[ druhngk ]

adjective

  1. being in a temporary state in which one's physical and mental faculties are impaired by an excess of alcohol; intoxicated:

    The wine made him drunk.

    Synonyms: inebriated, drunken

    Antonyms: sober

  2. overcome or dominated by a strong feeling or emotion:

    drunk with power;

    drunk with joy.

  3. pertaining to or caused by intoxication or intoxicated persons; drunken:

    The semester before I dropped out was just a blur of drunk hookups and missed classes.



noun

  1. an intoxicated person:

    A couple of rude, grabby drunks ruined the parade for her.

  2. Disparaging and Offensive. a habitual drinker of alcohol who is frequently intoxicated.
  3. a spree; drinking party:

    We rolled back into town after a four-day drunk, looking like hell.

verb

  1. past participle and nonstandard simple past tense of drink.

drunk

/ drʌŋk /

adjective

  1. intoxicated with alcohol to the extent of losing control over normal physical and mental functions
  2. overwhelmed by strong influence or emotion

    drunk with joy

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. a person who is drunk or drinks habitually to excess
  2. informal.
    a drinking bout
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Usage Note

Discover More

Confusables Note

Both drunk and drunken are used as modifiers before nouns naming persons: a drunk customer; a drunken merrymaker. Only drunk occurs after a linking verb: He was not drunk, just jovial. The actor was drunk with success. The modifier drunk in legal language describes a person whose blood contains more than the legally allowed percentage of alcohol: Drunk drivers go to jail. Drunken, not drunk, is almost always the form used with nouns that do not name persons: drunken arrogance; a drunken free-for-all. In such uses it normally has the sense “pertaining to, caused by, or marked by intoxication.” Drunken is also idiomatic in such expressions as drunken bum or drunken sailor.
Discover More

Other Words From

  • half-drunk adjective
  • un·drunk adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of drunk1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English drunken, Old English druncen, past participle of drincan “to swallow liquid, drink”; drink
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of drunk1

Old English druncen, past participle of drincan to drink; see drink
Discover More

Example Sentences

The police told me that, based on the accounts of two eyewitnesses, the two drunks who had been ejected from the bar I passed had snuck up behind me and hit me on the back of the head with a brick.

From Ozy

While no amount of safety gear can protect you from a distracted or drunk driver, being visible on the road at night can help you avoid being struck by attentive drivers.

Given that alcohol is pretty good at making people act in confusing or mystifying ways, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that in the 1800's bamboozle began to be used as slang for "drunk."

It’s also known as ethanol, the type of alcohol that can make someone drunk.

Scientists, though, were skeptical that such large animals could eat enough fruit to get drunk.

As Peled puts it, “The whiskey bottle is still on the table and people are drunk.”

I did know girls who had had sexual experiences when they were too drunk to fully know what was going on.

If the President is seeking a way to court Republicans, alcohol is a slam-drunk.

“I was a nobody there,” Sisler insisted in a telephone interview, during which he slurred his words and acknowledged he was drunk.

But the headlines revealed: last night, as predicted, 26-year-old candidate George Washington carried the drunk vote.

And she did go; the doctor with great attention sending in half a dozen of medicine, to be drunk upon the road.

I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.

Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art drunk but not with wine.

The horse, whose health had been drunk in his absence, was standing outside, ready harnessed to the cart.

But the neighbors soon made up their minds what they thought of the strangers, for the father was very drunk.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


drungdrunkard