Word that means drunk

Some interesting synonyms for ‘drunk’, plus other useful words relating to drinking

There are few words that have more colourful synonyms than ‘drunk’, ‘intoxicated’, ‘soused’, ‘pickled’ – whatever you choose to call a state of alcohol-induced inebriation. Writers have often drawn on these synonyms for intoxication, and have even added or popularised some of their own. For instance, the great comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, as we revealed in our post on 10 great words he coined, invented one or two. But this is our list of some of the more unusual and descriptive terms for states of drunkenness. So grab a glass of your favourite tipple and imbibe these fine words.

Historical synonyms for ‘partially drunk’ include semi-bousy, tipsy, mellow, cherry-merry, groggified, squizzed, whiffled, and tiddly.

In the past, synonyms for ‘drunk’ (that is, not just a little tipsy but full-on three sheets to the wind) included cup-shot, whip-cat, pottical, nappy, sack-sopped, bumspy, in the pots, tap-shackled, and fap.

Capernoited means ‘slightly muddled in the head as a result of drink’.

American writer O. Henry coined the word spifflicated as a synonym for ‘drunk’.

Drunk imagesThe word genevered means specifically to be drunk on gin; it appears in a work of 1759 by Edward Young.

Doundrins denotes afternoon drinking.

A 1913 New York Times article on portmanteaus includes the word alcoholiday, describing leisure time spent drinking. A brannigan is a drinking spree. Quaff-tide was an Elizabethan word meaning ‘the season for drinking’.

H. L. Mencken coined the word ombibulous for someone who will drink anything. He used the word to describe himself.

A shotclog is ‘a drinking companion who is tolerated because they pay for the drinks’.

A quaffer is a drink that is especially pleasant.

There is a word, muckibus, meaning ‘drunkenly sentimental’ – it is first recorded in a 1756 letter by the Gothic novelist Horace Walpole.

In the seventeenth century, humpty-dumpty was the name given to a drink of ale boiled with brandy.

A fearnought is ‘a drink to keep up the spirits’; it is first recorded in Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-HurPot-valiant is an old term meaning ‘courageous because of drink’.

The word amethyst literally means ‘not drunk’ or ‘without drunkenness’, since the precious stone was thought to prevent drunkenness.

A bladderclock is the word for drinking the right amount of water so that you wake up at the right time in the morning.

Cropsick means ‘having a stomach ache from too much drink’.

A stiffener is an alcoholic drink which revives you; the word first appears in a 1928 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers.

That concludes our list of great synonymous for drunkenness and other drink-related words. But why not stay and have another drink? Why not imbibe these 25 weird words for rare phobias? And our interesting facts about words and language?

Image: Wine and hard liquor bottles photographed through a multiprism filter; by Kotivalo, 2012; Wikimedia Commons.

It’s not something to be proud of, but people from the UK have a reputation all over the world for drinking far too much alcohol!

In fact, there are few things more British than going to the pub, whether that’s after work, at the weekend, or even during a lunch break. Sunny days in the UK might be rare, but within minutes of the sun coming out, you will start to smell smoke rising from barbeques and hear people opening cans of beer. On a summer’s afternoon in England, public parks are full of people with picnics and bottles of wine.

It’s true that drinking alcohol plays a much bigger role in British culture than in many other countries, and so it’s not surprising that the Brits have hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of terms and slang words that mean “drunk”.

Here are 25 popular expressions about being drunk. Some of these words and phrases are ruder than others, but most of them are considered funny, rather than likely to cause offence!

  1. Inebriated

This is actually a very formal word for drunk, but people often say it to sound funny. In fact, people often use very “proper” or “posh” language to describe being drunk. The joke is in the difference between how ridiculous people look and sound when they have had too much alcohol, and using very formal language that doesn’t fit the context.

  1. Legless

This is a very common way of describing someone as drunk, for example “he got totally legless last night!”. It hints at the fact that people often find it harder to walk (or use their legs) when they’ve had too much to drink.

  1. Out of It

This doesn’t always mean drunk, but it often does. If you say “I’m out of it” it means you’re finding it hard to concentrate or focus, or you are not really aware of what is happening around you.

  1. Sloshed

This simply means “drunk”, but it’s associated with or older, more upper-class language. Most of the time when people use it they are trying to sound funny.

  1. Sozzled

Like “sloshed”, this is a posher way of saying drunk, that most people would find funny.

  1. Out of Your Tree

This refers to someone who is so drunk that they are behaving very strangely or can’t behave in a normal way.

  1. Off Your Trolley

The same as “out of your tree”.

  1. Wasted

A common word for drunk that’s used both in Britain and the US.

  1. Tipsy

This means that you’re feeling a little bit drunk – but not too much! You might also hear people say something like “that wine has gone to my head”, which means they’re feeling a bit tipsy.

10, 11 & 12. Hammered, Smashed, Plastered

These are all words that you only really hear in the UK that mean the same thing: “very drunk”

  1. Got Your Beer Goggles On

This means that you aren’t seeing things quite as they are because you’re drunk. For example “That guy looks quite cute” “No he’s not, you’ve got your beer goggles on” (or “that’s your beer goggles talking”).

  1. On the Lash

To drink heavily on a night out, for example “We’re going out on the lash tonight”.

  1. Pissed / Pished

Strictly speaking, “pissed” (or “pished” in Scotland) is a swear word and you shouldn’t use it in a formal, professional or school context. However it is probably the most commonly used word in the UK to describe being drunk. If you spend any time in the UK, you will hear it all the time. Just remember that in the US, it means angry, not drunk, or you could find yourself having some very confusing conversations!

Have we missed out a word for “drunk” that you find funny? Let us know in the comments section below!

In the beginning, one was simply drunken or fordrunken («very drunk»). But already the Anglo-Saxons had begun to develop a more sophisticated vocabulary. One could be oferdrunken («overdrunk») or indruncen («saturated with drink»), symbelgal («wanton with drink-feasting») or symbel­ wlonc («elated with drink-feasting»), or simply dryncwerig («drink-weary»). But nothing in Old English vocabulary anticipates the extraordinary growth of alcoholic lexicon over the next thousand years. The adjectives for being drunk provide one of the longest lists in the thesaurus.

The history of drinking vocabulary is an exercise in semantics rather than sociolinguistics. Terms for being drunk can’t usually be explained by referring to such variables as age, gender, social class, occupation, or regional background. Being drunk cuts across barriers. The list below shows only the occasional indication of a class preference (such as genteel whiffled vs thieves’ cant suckey), and occupational origins are seen only in some nautical expressions (three sheets, oversparred, up the pole, tin hat, honkers), though the etymology is not always definite. There are very few formal terms in the list, apart from a few expressions fostered by the law (intoxicated, over the limit), and some early scholarly words (inebriate(d), temulent, ebrious). Local regional variations are sometimes apparent, such as from Scotland (fou, strut, swash, blootered, swacked), England (bottled, pissed, rat­arsed), and Australia (blue, rotten, shickery, plonked, on one’s ear); and since the eighteenth century most new words in this semantic field have started out in the United States. But it’s rare to find a word that stays in one country for long, and these days online slang dictionaries have largely broken down geographical boundaries.

Why has this field developed to the extent that writers regularly make a special collection of these words? We see it early on in John Ray’s collection of proverbs (1678) or Benjamin Franklin’s Drinker’s Dictionary (1737), and artful classifications of degrees of drunkenness antedate these (see fox­drunk, 1592). It’s tempting to think that the linguistic innovation is a direct result of the uninhibited behaviour which follows a bout of drinking. Certainly there are some highly idiosyncratic (and often inexplicable) coinages in the list, such as pepst, pottical, fap, paid, muckibus, stocious, and schnockered. Many words are represented by just a single citation. And several seem to be motivated by the sound of the word as much as by any meaning it might have: jingled, whift, whiffled, squiffy, whittled, spiflicated, zonked. The etymology is often unclear, though in a few cases a linguistic source is known, as with Hindi poggled or Yiddish shickery and plotzed.

There seems to be a universal trend to avoid stating the obvious. To describe someone as simply drunk, in drink, or in liquor is accurate but evidently uninspiring. One fruitful vein is to find terms that characterize drunken appearance (owl­eyed, pie­eyed, cock­eyed, lumpy, blue, lit) or behaviour, especially erratic movement (slewed, bumpsy, reeling ripe, tow­ row, rocky, on one’s ear, zigzag, tipped, looped) or lack of any movement at all (stiff, paralytic). Another is mental state, such as being muddled (fuddled, muzzed, queer, woozy), elated (high­flown, wired, pixilated), or worn down (whittled, half­shaved, rotten, crocked, the worse for wear).

Some of the earliest descriptive terms come from the containers used by drinkers: The fourteenth-century cup­shotten is the first, but later centuries have given us such words as pot­shotten, jug­bitten, tap­shackled, flagonal, tanked, canned, potted, and bottled, as well as the more genteel in one’s cups. The contents of the container are also productive, as with sack­ sopped, groggy, lushy, malty, rummy, swizzled, skimished, plonked, and bevvied. And the fact that the drinks are, by definition, liquid, has resulted in several more, such as soaken, wet, swilled, swash, sozzled, blotto, and liquefied. At the other extreme, euphemisms bear witness to the desire to avoid making any direct allusion at all to the drinking situation: con­cerned, disguised, under the influence, tired and emotional.

Some of the most interesting terms are those where drinkers exaggerate their state during or after a drinking session, usually by suggesting the thoroughness of their achievement. The notion of being «completely filled» is one theme: Topped, loaded, overseen, overflown, overshot, well­ lubricated, well­oiled, drink­drowned. The notion of reaching a maximum is reinforced by the frequent use of the particle up (boozed up, tanked up, etc.). By comparison, there are relatively few words for being mildly drunk (such as tight and squiffy), though attempts at quantification can be made (as in half­tanked and half­cut). Cooking is another theme, especially since the eighteenth century: Stewed, boiled, pickled, soused, fried, steamed. And hurtful danger provides a third theme, especially in the twentieth century: hit under the wing, shot in the neck, scratched, cut, shot, stung, stunned, toxed, polluted, gassed, bombed. The lexicon of drink can at times be very dark.

These days, though, the leading question for the lexicologist has to be: what exactly is the lexicon of drink? Many of the words formerly associated with drinking are now associated with drugs, such as high, loaded, pie­eyed, piped, potted, wasted, and blasted. Often it is simply unclear, without further context, what state a person is in. Indeed, sometimes there is a three-way ambiguity, as a further meaning has emerged that is to do with neither alcohol nor drugs. If someone says they are zonked, are they drunk, high, or just tired out?


A Selected Timeline of Terms for “Drunk”

cup-shorten 

c.1330

One is “overcome with liquor.” This is shotten in the sense of “discharged” or «emptied»: Everything is gone from the cup. A form cup­shot is also recorded, but much later, in 1593. There’s a link with the noun, as in a shot of brandy.

bousy

c.1529

The first instance of boozy, spelled with ou or ow until the eighteenth century. An early use of a verb bouse is recorded in c.1300, from Dutch (where it was originally the name of a drinking vessel), but it doesn’t become common until the sixteenth century, along with the adjective, at first chiefly in the cant of thieves and beggars. «Up rose the bowzy Sire,» writes Alexander Pope in the New Dunciad (1742, line 485), one of a long line of poets to be attracted to the word.

fuddled

1656

The verb fuddle, «to have a drinking bout,» is known from the late sixteenth century, and led to several idioms, such as to fuddle one’s cap or nose—“to get drunk.” The rhyme with muddle brought a later blurring of the two meanings, so that, when we read (in an 1830 publication) “I was not drunk, I was only fuddled,” it isn’t clear whether the sense is “slightly drunk” or “not drunk at all.” Modern usage of fuddle tends to go for the “confused” sense (as with befuddled).

muckibus

1756

A jocular usage reported in an anecdote of Horace Walpole (in a letter to George Montagu, April 20): At a supper, he hears Lady Coventry say that «if she drank anymore, she should be muckibus.» Lady Mary Coke enquired what this meant, and was told that it was «Irish for sentimental.» The mock-Latin ending is known from other facetious eighteenth-century slang formations, such as stinkibus, but there’s no obvious connection with muck. Lady Coventry came from Ireland. The likelihood is that Walpole misheard a genuine Irish word, perhaps maoithneach «sentimental.»

blootered

1805

Blooter—spelled also as bluiter and bloother—is a sixteenth-century Scots word for a noisy fool or clumsy oaf. It had developed a verb use by the nineteenth century, and blootered «very drunk» was one of the consequences. It’s still used in Scotland, as well as in Northern Ireland and parts of the north of England. In the twentieth century, it turns up again in Ireland as a jocular colloquialism, peloothered (1914).

swizzled

1843

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, switchel and swizzle were slang names for drinks made of various mixes, such as molasses and water. A green swizzle was popular in the West Indies, acknowledged by P. G. Wodehouse in The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy (1925): Bertie Wooster observes, «if ever I marry and have a son, Green Swizzle Wooster is the name that will go down in the register.» The origins are unclear. Eric Partridge thought swizzle could be a blend of swig and guzzle. There’s a dialect background too: A swizzler was a name for a drunkard in Yorkshire. A New York Times article in 1910 explains it by saying that swizzled means «beaten, as with an egg-beater, into a froth.» Whatever the origin, swizzled «totally drunk» had a vogue which lasted into the twentieth century.

blotto

1917

The analogy is probably with blots and blotting paper, which soaks up ink as a person soaks up drink. It was a favorite piece of upper-class slang in the first half of the twentieth century. Here is Freddie, hungover, in the opening chapter of P. G. Wodehouse’s Jill the Reckless (1920, ch. 1): «I was possibly a little blotto. Not whiffled, perhaps, but indisputably blotto.»

plonked

1943

Clearly from plonk, the facetious pronunciation of blanc 1943 (as in vin blanc «white wine») which was widely used in Australia and New Zealand before traveling around the English-speaking world as a term for any kind of cheap wine. A drunkard addicted to plonk (a plonko) would be very definitely plonked, or plonked up.

schnockered

1955

Probably, along with snockered (1961), a jocular adaptation 1955 of snookered, the analogy being based on the way snooker players find themselves unable to hit their target ball directly because other balls are in the way. The word had long been used figuratively to refer to people in a difficult or impossible position. The sch­ variant might have been an echo of drunken speech, or even of Yiddish.

plotzed

1962

A Yiddish expression, from the verb plotz «crack, split,» which led to several US slang uses, recorded since the 1920s, such as «display strong emotion» («she plotzed for joy») and «sit down wearily» («I plotzed into an easy chair»). Either or both of these nuances could have led to the association with drunkenness.

The UK has an entirely different relationship with alcohol consumption from what people in the United States are used to. While drinking is obviously common in the US, it isn’t joked about with the same degree that you’ll see British people joking about it.

This difference in culture has caused the number of drinking-related slang words to expand exponentially in the UK. Most of them are hilarious, witty, and refreshingly original.

In this list, we’ll be showing you a bunch of British slang words for drunk. We’ll also provide a few examples, so you understand how they’re used.

Sit back with your favorite drink and let’s get started…

A

A Wee Bit Jolly

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A gentler, more polite way to indicate someone has had a bit much too drink. This isn’t quite at the point of being blackout drunk.
  • Example: “Don’t mind my father – he’s a wee bit jolly.”

Absolutely Badgered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be absolutely badgered is to be completely, horribly drunk. Use this one to describe someone who’s well past the point of no return.
  • Example: “Let’s go to the pub and get absolutely badgered tonight.”

Absolutely Smashed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): This one is the same as absolutely badgered. Treat it similarly.

Annihilated

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Now this is a way to describe someone who’s blackout drunk. Annihilated is well beyond a wee bit jolly and should be reserved for times when you’re stumblingly inebriated.
  • Example: “Sarah got absolutely annihilated in the pub last night. We had to carry her out the door.”

Away with the Fairies

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A fun, creative way of saying someone’s gotten a little bit tipsy. You can also use this phrase to imply that someone is acting a little crazy or is unfocused.
  • Example: “Sorry about my behavior. I’m away with the fairies at the moment.”

Read More: 101+ British Slang Insults

B

Banjaxed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): British slang for drunken that’s short, sweet, and to the point.
  • Example: “My boss was banjaxed at the company party.”

Battered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Drunken. Can be said anytime you would say banjaxed.

Beered Up

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): This term describes someone who’s gotten intoxicated as a result of beer.
  • Example: “I’m all beered up and ready to party.”

Bevvied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See banjaxed and battered.

Binned

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A term that simply means drunk. Can be used whenever you’d otherwise say someone is tipsy or inebriated.

Bladdered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): British slang for drunk that may refer to how someone often has to urinate while they’re drunk.
  • Example: “He’s so bladdered, he’s gone and pissed himself.”

Blathered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another term that means drunk. Synonymous with banjaxed.

Blitzed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A drunken person.

Blootered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Less common and fun way of describing someone who’s had too much to drink.

Blotto

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be drunk. It’s usually said with a ‘d’ sound at the end.
  • Example: “I got completely blotto’d this weekend. Don’t remember any of it.”

Bog-Faced

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): When you realize that “bog” is British slang for toilet, this phrase makes a lot of sense. It refers to when you’re so drunk, you end up vomiting into a toilet.
  • Example: “He’s going to get bog-faced quickly if he doesn’t pace himself with his drinks.”

Boiled in the Bag

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Old expression that means someone has had way too much drink. You can treat this one like “absolutely badgered,” for example.

Bollocksed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Bollocks is the British word for balls. When you say, “dog’s bollocks,” it’s a good thing…but when someone is bollocksed, they’re stupidly drunk.
  • Example: “Sorry for the things I said while I was bollocksed last night.”

Boozed-Up

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be drunk on any type of alcohol. You can say it the same way you’d say, “beered up,” but can use it to refer to booze in general and not just beer.

Buggered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Like bollocks, bugger is a famous British insult. It’s not surprising that “buggered” can also mean you’ve gotten stupidly drunk!

Buzzed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be drunk. This slang term is also somewhat common in the United States.

C

Can’t Lie Down without Holding On

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A phrase that means someone is so drunk, they’ve gotten ridiculously clumsy.
  • Example: “She’s so buzzed, she can’t lie down without holding on.”

Chemically Unbalanced

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A British euphemism for when someone has drunk too much booze. This one is a fun, humorous, and still delicate take on the concept.
  • Example: “Excuse the strange things my aunt says. She’s chemically unbalanced at the moment.”

Clobbered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another way of just saying that you’re drunk.

Comfortably Numb

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another delicate and humorous euphemism for being drunk.
  • Example:
  • Person 1: “How’re you feeling right now?”
  • Person 2: “I’m comfortably numb.”

D

Drunk as a Judge

Meaning:

  • (Expression): An old turn of phrase that means someone is quite drunk. We’re not really sure how this one originated, but it paints a colorful picture.
  • Example: “John’s drunk as a judge at the pub right now. Maybe you should wait before you try and ask him for anything.”

Drunk as a Lord

Meaning:

  • (Expression): This is similar to drunk as a judge.

Drunk as a Newt

Meaning:

  • (Expression): See drunk as a judge.

Drunk as a Skunk

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Also see drunk as a judge. This is another common phrase in the US, too.

F

Fallen from Grace

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A polite way of describing someone who’s inebriated that references the embarrassing acts they might do while drunk.
  • Example: “She must be fallen from grace. She keeps trying to put an egg in the toaster.”

Fannied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): British slang word for drunk.

Far Gone

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A British phrase to describe someone who’s really drunk. This is for someone who’s deep in their cups and will surely regret it tomorrow.
  • Example: “Don’t ask her any serious questions because she’s far gone, I can assure you.”

Fecked

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): You might hear this slang word for drunk in Northern Ireland. Feck is a fairly common version of “fu**” there.
  • Example: “Here’s a word of advice: don’t show up to your job interview fecked.”

Feeling Absolutely No Pain Whatsoever

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A gentlemanly way of telling someone that you’re drunk. It’s kind of like saying comfortably numb.
  • Example:
  • Person 1: “Are you doing all right, mate?”
  • Person 2: “Don’t worry about me. I’m feeling absolutely no pain whatsoever.”

Fermented

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): When some foods are fermented, they become alcoholic. The same word can be used to describe a person who’s drunk so much alcohol, they’re practically comprised of it.

Floored

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): The state of being so drunk, you’ve ended up on the floor.

Fooked

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A variation of the word “fecked.”

Fuddled

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A way to describe someone who is drunk to the point of being mentally confused.

G

Got Your Beer Goggles On

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Beer goggles is a phrase often used to describe how things or people can seem more attractive to you when you’re inebriated. Thus, if someone has their beer goggles on, they’re at least a little tipsy!

Learn More Slang: 101+ British Slang Words and Phrases

Greased

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another British word that basically just means drunk.

Guttered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): This British slang word for drunk paints a vivid picture. It describes someone who’s so drunk, they’ve practically fallen face-down in a gutter.
  • Example: “I need to stop making big life decisions while I’m guttered.”

H

Half-Cut

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another basic slang term for someone who is drunk.

Hammered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Extremely common term for being drunk. If you’re from the US, you’ve likely already heard this term.

I

In Tatters

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Essentially, someone who’s so drunk, their dignity has been shredded.
  • Example: “Might want to avoid talking to mum right now because she’s in tatters.”

In Your Cups

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Polite way of indicating someone has been drinking. This phrase is starting to fall by the wayside a bit, so you might not hear it as often.
  • Example: “He’s in his cups, so don’t take anything he says seriously.”

Inebriated

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Formal word for drunkenness. Although it’s formal, someone might use it in a sarcastic or joking tone to be funny.

Intoxicated

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See inebriated.

Irrigated with Horizontal Lubricant

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Someone who’s drunk enough to be stumbling around or on the ground.

K

Kalied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Lesser-known slang word for drunk.

L

Lagered Up

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A lager is a type of beer, so it’s easy to see where this one comes from. You can use it just like how you’d say, “beered up.”

Langered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another slang word for simply drunk.

Leathered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See langered.

Legless

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Someone who’s so drunk, they’re stumbling around could be described as legless. It’s a state of being so drunk, you might as well have lost your legs.
  • Example: “My legless companion over there keeps stumbling into walls. Remind me to stop buying him drinks earlier next time.”

Loaded

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Common slang term for an inebriated person.

Lubricated

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Similar in nature to loaded. You can use this to describe just about any extremely drunk person.

M

Marinated

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Marinated is another extremely vivid term because it calls to mind food that has been soaking in liquid. If you’re marinated, you’ve drank so much alcohol, you’re pretty much “soaking” in it!
  • Example: “He’s completely marinated – doesn’t even know where he is right now.”

Mashed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Common British slang word for drunk.

Merry

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): British slang word for drunk that’s like saying a wee bit jolly. Implies someone is a happy drunk.

Mingin

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Be careful with the pronunciation on this one – it’s ming-in. Another beloved British word that just means intoxicated.

Monkied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Someone who is intoxicated to the point of foolishness.
  • Example: “See that monkied eejit over there? That’s my husband.”

Mortal

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Less common way of saying drunk in British slang.

Mullered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See mortal.

O

Off Your Face

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A phrase that can mean drunk or high – just that you’re intoxicated in some way.
  • Example: “I feel really off my face right now. I think I need to go home.”

Off Your Skull Drunk

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Self-explanatory expression that means you are deeply drunk.

Off Your Tits

Meaning:

  • (Expression): See Off Your Skull Drunk.

Off Your Trolley

Meaning:

  • (Expression): See Off Your Skull Drunk.

On the Lash

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A phrase that means to drink a large amount of alcohol.
  • Example: “Want to go on the lash with me later?”

On the Piss

Meaning:

  • (Expression): An informal and somewhat vulgar way to say someone has been drinking excessively.
  • Example: “We went out on the piss last night.”

On the Sauce

Meaning:

  • (Expression): See On the Lash.

One Over the Eight

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Someone who has drank just a tiny bit too much. This comes from an old belief that the average man could safely handle eight beers.
  • Example: “I told the police officer who pulled me over that I only had one over the eight. Guess that wasn’t a brilliant idea.”

Out of Your Tree

Meaning:

  • (Expression): To be crazy as a result of consuming far too much alcohol.
  • Example: “Sorry if I was out of my tree last night.”

P

Paralytic

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): When one is so intoxicated, they can hardly move. In some regions in the UK, “palatik” is said as an alternative pronunciation of paralytic.
  • Example: “Jon’s paralytic, so let him sleep it off.”

Pickled

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See marinated.

Pie-Eyed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be extremely inebriated.
  • Example: “After several glasses of wine, my aunt became pie-eyed.”

Pissed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): In the UK, this doesn’t mean angry – it means you’re drunk. In Scotland, they’ll pronounce it as “pished” instead.

Pissed as a Fart

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Humorous and vulgar way of saying you’re drunk.

Plastered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Common way of indicating you or someone else is drunk. You’ve likely heard this already if you live in the United States.

Potted

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Additional term for drunk.

R

Rat-Arsed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be very drunk.

Reekin’

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): This word literally means something that stinks. In a British slang sense, it can mean someone drank so much, they now smell like alcohol.
  • Example: “He’s drank so much tonight, he’s reekin.’”

Rendered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another slang term for drunk.

Rinsed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be quite drunk.

Ripe and Ready

Meaning:

  • (Expression): See rinsed.

Ruined

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Drunk to the point of total foolishness. See annihilated.

S

Saying Hello to Mr. Armitage

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Bizarre British phrase that means one is a bit on the drunk side.
  • Example: “I’m just saying hello to Mr. Armitage. You’ll have to excuse me.”

Scuttered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Slang term for someone who is inebriated.

Seeing Double

Meaning:

  • (Expression): When you’re so drunk, it’s making your eyesight unstable.
  • Example: “You know you’ve had one too many when you’re seeing double.”

Sh**-Canned

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another slang term for someone drunk.

Sh**-faced

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Phrase for a drunk person that’s also common in the United States.

Shited

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): British slang term that can be used to describe something that is unpleasant or someone who’s totally marinated.

Shozzled

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another word for someone that’s completely wasted.

Slaughtered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): An individual who is extremely drunk. See also annihilated.

Sloshed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Fun word for an individual who’s been hitting the drinks a little too much.
  • Example: “I got sloshed after spending my evening with a bottle of wine.”

Sloshed to the Gills

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A phrase that’s a step up from sloshed. Use this one if you want to say sloshed, but also want to emphasize it.

Smashed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): The British equivalent of the American word “wasted.”
  • Example: “I got absolutely smashed last night at the pub.”

Soused

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Someone who is deeply intoxicated.

Sozzled

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Very drunk.
  • Example: “Leo was sozzled last night. I wonder if he’s regretting it now?”

Spinning without Moving

Meaning:

  • (Expression): When someone is so deeply drunk, they feel dizzy whether or not they’re actually spinning.

Steaming

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A word you might use to describe someone who’s an angry drunk.
  • Example: “He was red-faced and steaming the last time we saw him.”

Stewed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See marinated.

Stonking

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Drunk.

T

Tanked Up

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See beered up.

Three Sheets to the Wind

Meaning:

  • (Expression): This old phrase is a popular one that means drunk. It comes from the sails on a ship; if all three sails were loose, it became impossible to steer the ship. If you’re three sheets to the wind, you’re essentially out of control.
  • Example: “I don’t want to deal with you while you’re three sheets to the wind.”

Tiddly

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): To be a little bit drunk. This is kind of like how you might say tipsy in the United States.
  • Example: “He’s a real lightweight who gets tiddly after half a beer.”

Tight

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): In the US, the word tight has another meaning entirely. But in the UK, being tight means you’re drunk.

Tipsy

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See tiddly.

Tired and Emotional

Meaning:

  • (Expression): A polite, professional euphemism you can use when you don’t want to be obvious about what you’re saying.
  • Example: “The CEO had to take the day off because he’s tired and emotional.”

Titted

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Very drunk.

Top-Heavy

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another word for very drunk.

Trolleyed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Common British slang word for someone who’s intoxicated.

Trousered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another slang term for inebriation.

Twatted

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): You’ve probably heard a British person use the word “twat” as an insult before. You can also say twatted when you refer to someone who’s drunk.

U

Under the Influence

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Another polite and somewhat formal way of describing someone who’s drunk. It can also be applied to people who are high.

Utterly Carparked

Meaning:

  • (Expression): Common British phrase with a polite twist that means drunk.

W

Wankered

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Wanker is another common British slang phrase. Although you can use it to refer to someone who’s a jerk, it also works when describing a drunk person.

Wasted

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Extremely common slang term for drunk.

Wazzocked

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Another slang word for very drunk.

Wellied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Slang term for an intoxicated person.

Whammed

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): Description for an inebriated individual.

Woozy

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): When you’re drunk to the point of being a bit wobbly or dizzy.
  • Example: “I got woozy after my second pint.”

Wrecked

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): See wasted.

Z

Zombied

Meaning:

  • (Adjective): A way to describe someone who’s drunk enough to be reduced to a zombie – shuffling, unintelligible, and possibly rank.
  • Example: “Ryan got zombied at the party last night.”

Wrap Up

As you can see from this list, there are a ton of British slang words and phrases to describe someone who’s maybe had a bit too much to drink. There are likely others we haven’t even heard before.

Do you know any British slang for drunkenness that we missed? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

  • 1
    drunk

    DRUNK, DRUNKEN

    Drunk ‘пьяный, опьяненный’ обычно употребляется в функции предикатива (с предлогом with): to be drunk with wine, to be drunk with success, to be drunk with happiness. Drunken ‘пьяный’ употребляется главным образом атрибутивно: drunken man, drunken speech, drunken brawl.

    Difficulties of the English language (lexical reference) English-Russian dictionary > drunk

  • 2
    drunk

    drunk [drʌŋk]

    1) пья́ный;

    1) пья́ный

    2) попо́йка; запо́й

    Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > drunk

  • 3
    drunk

    Персональный Сократ > drunk

  • 4
    drunk

    drʌŋk
    1. прил.;
    предик.
    1) а) напившийся, пьяный drunk as a lord, drunk as a fiddler ≈ пьян как сапожник;
    пьян в стельку he got drunk on cheap wine ≈ он напился допьяна дешевым вином blind drunk dead drunk roaring drunk stinking drunk Syn: drunken б) находящийся в состоянии алкогольного опьянения (с точки зрения объективных характеристик, предусмотренных законодательством) legally drunk ≈ официально признанный находящимся в состоянии алкогольного опьянения
    2) захваченный, охваченный, опьяненный( успехом и т. п.) (with) drunk with rage ≈ охваченный гневом, охваченный яростью
    2. сущ.;
    разг.
    1) пьяный to roll a drunk ≈ ограбить пьяного Syn: alcoholic, drunkard
    2) попойка;
    запой Syn: booze, carouse
    3. прич. прош. вр. от drink( разговорное) пьяный (разговорное) попойка (разговорное) дело о дебоширстве (разбираемое в полицейском суде) пьяный — blind /dead/ * мертвецки пьяный — to get * напиться( пьяным), упиться — to drink oneself * напиться, нализаться, нарезаться, надраться — to make smb. * напоить кого-л. — * and disorderly в нетрезвом виде — * and disorderly behaviour нарушение общественного порядка, мелкое хулиганство в нетрезвом состоянии опьяненный — * with success опьяненный успехом — * with happiness опьяневший от счастья — * with tiredness шатающийся /ошалевший/ от усталости неустойчивый > as * as a lord /as a fiddler, as a fish/ пьяный как сапожник /в стельку/ p.p. от drink
    ~ a predic. пьяный;
    to get drunk напиться пьяным;
    drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька;
    blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян
    drunk p. p. от drink ~ a predic. опьяненный (успехом и т. п.;
    with) ~ разг. попойка ~ разг. пьяный ~ a predic. пьяный;
    to get drunk напиться пьяным;
    drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька;
    blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян ~ пьяный ~ разг. разбор дела о дебоширстве в полицейском суде
    ~ a predic. пьяный;
    to get drunk напиться пьяным;
    drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька;
    blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян
    ~ a predic. пьяный;
    to get drunk напиться пьяным;
    drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька;
    blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян get: to ~ better стать лучше;
    to get drunk опьянеть;
    to get married жениться;
    you’ll get left behind вас обгонят, вы останетесь позади

    Большой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > drunk

  • 5
    drunk

    [drʌŋk]

    drunk a predic. пьяный; to get drunk напиться пьяным; drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька; blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян drunk p. p. от drink drunk a predic. опьяненный (успехом и т. п.; with) drunk разг. попойка drunk разг. пьяный drunk a predic. пьяный; to get drunk напиться пьяным; drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька; blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян drunk пьяный drunk разг. разбор дела о дебоширстве в полицейском суде drunk a predic. пьяный; to get drunk напиться пьяным; drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька; blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян drunk a predic. пьяный; to get drunk напиться пьяным; drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler) = пьян как сапожник, как стелька; blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян get: to drunk better стать лучше; to get drunk опьянеть; to get married жениться; you’ll get left behind вас обгонят, вы останетесь позади

    English-Russian short dictionary > drunk

  • 6
    drunk

    1. [drʌŋk]

    разг.

    1. пьяный

    2. попойка

    2. [drʌŋk]

    predic

    1. пьяный

    blind /dead/ drunk — мертвецки пьяный

    to get drunk — напиться (пьяным), упиться

    to make smb. drunk — напоить кого-л.

    drunk and disorderly behaviour — нарушение общественного порядка, мелкое хулиганство в нетрезвом состоянии

    2. опьянённый

    drunk with tiredness — шатающийся /ошалевший/ от усталости

    3. неустойчивый

    as drunk as a lord /as a fiddler, as a fish/ — ≅ пьяный как сапожник /в стельку/

    3. [drʌŋk]

    от drink II

    НБАРС > drunk

  • 7
    drunk

    1. n разг. попойка

    2. n разг. дело о дебоширстве

    3. a predic пьяный

    4. a predic опьянённый

    5. a predic неустойчивый

    Синонимический ряд:

    1. intoxicated (adj.) alcoholized; befuddled; besotted; blind; cockeyed; disguised; drunken; feeling no pain; fried; given to drink; inebriated; inebrious; intoxicated; looped; muddled; pixilated; polluted; rum-dum; slewed; slopped; sloppy; sloshed; smashed; soshed; sozzled; squiffed; stiff; stoned; tanked; tight; unsober; wet; zonked

    2. binge (noun) bat; bender; binge; blowoff; booze; brannigan; bum; bust; carousal; carouse; compotation; jag; orgy; ran-tan; rowdydow; souse; spree; tear; toot; wassail

    3. drunkard (noun) alcoholic; bibber; boozehound; boozer; dipsomaniac; drunkard; fuddler; guzzler; heavy drinker; inebriate; lush; rumdum; rummy; soak; soaker; sot; sponge; stiff; swillbowl; swiller; tippler; toper; tosspot; unreformed alcoholic

    5. boozed (verb) boozed; guzzled; nipped; soaked; swigged; swilled; tanked up; tippled

    6. imbibed (verb) drunk; imbibed; quaffed; sipped; supped off; supped up; swallowed; toss down; toss off; tossed

    English-Russian base dictionary > drunk

  • 8
    drunk

    [drʌŋk]
    1.

    прил.

    1) напившийся, пьяный

    blind / dead / roaring / stinking drunk — мертвецки пьян

    drunk as a lord / fiddler — пьян как сапожник; пьян в стельку

    He was beastly drunk. — Он напился как скотина.

    He got drunk on cheap wine. — Он напился допьяна дешёвым вином.

    In the evening, I took a walk and saw several drunk people. — Вечером я ходил на прогулку и видел несколько пьяных.

    Syn:

    2.

    сущ.

    Syn:

    Syn:

    3.

    прош. вр. от drink

    Англо-русский современный словарь > drunk

  • 9
    drunk

    пьяный
    имя прилагательное:

    имя существительное:

    Англо-русский синонимический словарь > drunk

  • 10
    drunk

    Англо-русский юридический словарь > drunk

  • 11
    drunk

    1.

    past participle

    of drink 2.

    1) пьяный; to get drunk напиться пьяным; drunk as a lord (или as a fiddler)

    =

    пьян как сапожник, как стелька; blind (или dead) drunk мертвецки пьян

    2) опьяненный (успехом и т. п.; with)

    1) пьяный

    2) попойка

    3) разбор дела о дебоширстве в полицейском суде

    Syn:

    alcoholic

    * * *

    1 (a) неустойчивый; опьяненный; пьяный

    2 (n) дело о дебоширстве; попойка

    * * *

    * * *

    [ drʌŋk]
    пьяный; попойка, запой
    пьяный, опьяненный

    * * *

    пьян

    пьяный

    * * *

    1.
    прил.; предик.
    1) а) напившийся
    б) находящийся в состоянии алкогольного опьянения
    2) захваченный, охваченный, опьяненный (успехом и т. п.; with)
    2.
    сущ.; разг.
    1) пьяный
    2) попойка
    3.
    прич. прош. вр. от drink

    Новый англо-русский словарь > drunk

  • 12
    drunk

    I [drʌŋk]

    adj

    пьяный, опьяневший, напившийся


    — drunk as a lord
    — get drunk

    II [drʌŋk]

    ;

    P.P.

    English-Russian combinatory dictionary > drunk

  • 13
    DRUNK

    пьяный, вполне словарный термин. Дадим пару нетривиальных примеров его употребления:

    Drunkard — ночной поезд в субботу.

    Drunk as a skunk — у нас бы сказали: «Напился в зюзю». Насчет зюзи мы не уверены, но скунс точно не пьет. Правда и радости от него, как мы знаем, немного — не больше чем от вонючего пьянчужки.

    American slang. English-Russian dictionary > DRUNK

  • 14
    drunk

    Large English-Russian phrasebook > drunk

  • 15
    drunk

    [drʌŋk]

    1) Общая лексика: выпивший, дело о дебоширстве , навеселе, нетрезвый, неустойчивый, опьяненный , подвыпивший, попойка, пьяный перен. опьянённый, разбор дела о дебоширстве , пьянчуга

    6) Бранное выражение: пьянь

    Универсальный англо-русский словарь > drunk

  • 16
    drunk

    [drʌŋk]

    напившийся, пьяный

    находящийся в состоянии алкогольного опьянения

    захваченный, охваченный, опьяненный

    пьяный

    попойка; запой

    Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь > drunk

  • 17
    drunk

    English-Russian dictionary of technical terms > drunk

  • 18
    drunk

    The Americanisms. English-Russian dictionary. > drunk

  • 19
    drunk

    English-Russian smart dictionary > drunk

  • 20
    drunk in

    English-Russian big polytechnic dictionary > drunk in

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См. также в других словарях:

  • drunk — drunk, drunken, intoxicated, inebriated, tipsy, tight are comparable when they mean being conspicuously under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Drunk and drunken are the plainspoken, direct, and inclusive terms {drunk as a fiddler} {drunk as… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • drunk — drunk·ard; drunk·en·ly; drunk·en·ness; drunk·ery; drunk·om·e·ter; un·drunk; drunk; drunk·en; …   English syllables

  • drunk´en|ly — drunk|en «DRUHNG kuhn», adjective, verb. –adj. 1. overcome by alcoholic liquor; drunk: »The noisy, drunken man was arrested by the police. SYNONYM(S): intoxicated. 2. caused by being drunk: »a drunken act, drunken words. 3. often drinking too… …   Useful english dictionary

  • drunk|en — «DRUHNG kuhn», adjective, verb. –adj. 1. overcome by alcoholic liquor; drunk: »The noisy, drunken man was arrested by the police. SYNONYM(S): intoxicated. 2. caused by being drunk: »a drunken act, drunken words. 3. often drinking too much… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Drunk — Drunk, a. [OE. dronke, drunke, dronken, drunken, AS. druncen. Orig. the same as drunken, p. p. of drink. See {Drink}.] 1. Intoxicated with, or as with, strong drink; inebriated; drunken; never used attributively, but always predicatively; as, the …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • drunk — drunk, drunken In general drunk is used predicatively (after a verb: He arrived drunk) and drunken is used attributively (before a noun: We have a drunken landlord). There is sometimes a slight difference in meaning, drunk referring to a… …   Modern English usage

  • drunk — [druŋk] vt., vi. [ME dronke < dronken, DRUNKEN] pp. & archaic pt. of DRINK adj. 1. overcome by alcoholic liquor to the point of losing control over one s faculties; intoxicated 2. overcome by any powerful emotion [drunk with joy] 3. Informal …   English World dictionary

  • drunk — past part of DRINK drunk drəŋk adj 1) having the faculties impaired by alcohol 2) of, relating to, or caused by intoxication: DRUNKEN <convicted of drunk driving (Time)> drunk n …   Medical dictionary

  • drunk — pp. of DRINK (Cf. drink), used as an adj. from mid 14c. in sense intoxicared. In various expressions, e.g. drunk as a lord (1891); Chaucer has dronke … as a Mous (c.1386); and, from 1709, as Drunk as a Wheelbarrow. Medieval folklore… …   Etymology dictionary

  • drunk — past part. of DRINK(Cf. ↑drinkable). ► ADJECTIVE ▪ affected by alcohol to the extent of losing control of one s faculties or behaviour. ► NOUN ▪ a person who is drunk or who habitually drinks to excess. ● drunk and disorderly Cf. ↑drunk and… …   English terms dictionary

  • Drunk — Drunk, n. A drunken condition; a spree. [Slang] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

The British are very good at two things: 1) getting incredibly drunk and 2) coming up with words to describe the act of getting incredibly drunk. Whether you’re in the north or the south, a trip down to your local pub will provide all the evidence you need that British slang is alive and well within the drinking person’s vernacular. Below are 5 wonderful British slang words for drunk.

Wankered
It doesn’t take a sober person to note that the root word of «wankered» is wank — a word that, as both a verb and a noun, means masturbate. Interesting, then, that the extended form wankered means inebriated — a state that typically renders 50% of the human race incapable of performing the aforementioned act.


Arse-holed
The word arsehole, like the word wanker, describes a stupid, contemptible person. Could it be, then, that the British like to equate drinking with idiotic behavio(u)r? If so, the people who coined the phrase arse-holed must have spent one or two Friday nights out in Hull.


Rat arsed
From a human’s back side to that of a rodent, I can only imagine that rat arsed entered British English (BrE) because «ferret bummed» wasn’t quite punchy enough. Either way, there are few better ways to describe yourself after eight cans of Newcastle Brown Ale than with rat arsed, especially since your drunken self would likely fail to comprehend quite how absurd the phrase is.

Pissed
In America, of course, this word means something altogether different — used, in fact, to denote that someone is angry (e.g. Michael was pissed at the wankers who towed his car). In Britain (as well as Australia and New Zealand), pissed is a very common word to describe the state of being drunk. The latter usage is first attested from 1929, while the American usage is even more recent, first recorded in 1946. The reason behind either coinage remains unclear, but there’s a good chance that the British employment of the word is tied to the idea of relieving oneself after a couple of pints. And speaking of things that are influenced by alcohol consumption…


Trolleyed
The British word for a shopping cart is trolley. The fact that the British have transformed this word into the past participle adjective trolleyed (to mean extremely drunk) is indicative of another cultural phenomenon: trolley surfing — a popular drinking activity that should be filed under «it seemed like a good idea at the time». 

Sometimes, it’s better hearing me in a British accent. Click the red button below.


Laurence Brown is a British man writing his way through the truly bizarre world of America — a place he sometimes accidentally calls home and a place he still hasn’t quite figured out after seven years. Thankfully, his journey is made 12% easier by the fact that his accent makes him sound much smarter than he is. For evidence of this, subscribe to his popular Lost in the Pond web series over on YouTube.

Adjective



I don’t like being around drunk people.



She was so drunk that she could barely walk.



I was drunk and couldn’t think straight.



We got drunk on wine.

Noun



you can’t trust anything that old drunk says



after a weeklong drunk he was unable to remember anything

See More

Recent Examples on the Web



Thyestes participates unknowingly while drunk, letting out a belch that signified his satisfaction with the meal and loss of self-control.


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Shortly after his son’s birth, Wallen came under fire when he was caught on camera using a racial slur while drunk in February 2021.


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In this situation, a tourist who is likely drunk and wandering around downtown gets kidnapped, driven around to ATMs and forced to withdraw money.


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Murdaugh’s youngest son allegedly crashed a boat while drunk with five others on board, killing a teenage girl.


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And was Johnson drunk?


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The couple had altercations and verbal arguments about his level of intoxication and his attempts to drive while drunk.


Hannah Oh, Seventeen, 27 Feb. 2023





Sue, now 100% drunk, asks if I was named after Mickey Mouse.


Hazlitt, 29 Mar. 2023




After a night of partying, Stanley got into a drunk-driving accident that sent him to jail for six months and instantly derailed his career.


Calum Marsh, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023





In this case, Harrelson plays Marcus, a minor-league basketball coach in Iowa whose temper gets him fired and whose decision to numb himself after that leads to a drunk-driving conviction.


Brian Lowry, CNN, 10 Mar. 2023





Enduring friendship marred by drunk-dials Rehearse responses and train yourself to stay calm.


Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 29 Mar. 2023





Morgan alleged that she was chastised by the Murdaugh family for calling 911 after Paul drunk-crashed his truck, and the family ultimately covered up the incident.


Hannah Oh, Seventeen, 27 Feb. 2023





Jana is controlling, bipolar and a drunk.


Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 9 Feb. 2023





Harry Myers, as the suicidal drunk, is highly amusing and makes a great silent comeback.


Thr Staff, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2023





Penned by Aarón Martinez, the heartbreak ballad — backed by a romantic norteño melody and a weeping accordion — narrates the story of a man who’s had one too many drinks and drunk-dialed his ex.


Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 13 Jan. 2023





Co-leader of the alliance, Itamar Ben-Gvir, called the rioter who attacked the Israeli soldier a drunk on Twitter Sunday.


Dov Lieber And Fatima Abdulkarim, WSJ, 20 Nov. 2022



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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘drunk.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The party was fun (lots of pretty people, free booze, good waitress, surprisingly racially mixed attendees**), but by 11: 30 I was drunk and DG was fall down drunk***, so it was time to go. ❋ Drbigbeef (2006)

On the train back to Brooklyn, a drunk is asleep in the seat for two at one end. ❋ Unknown (2007)

If people tweet the word «beer,» there’s a seven-hour lag, on average, before there’s a spike in the word «drunk ❋ Unknown (2011)

Chesterfield County police say an 18-year old man has died as the result of the injuries he received after what they call a drunk-driving crash. ❋ Unknown (2010)

He was so freakin ‘drunk, he could barely stand up. ❋ Mike Ragogna (2010)

Everyone, sober or drunk, is seeking a beloved, everywhere, mosque or synagogue, is the house of love. ❋ Ph.D. William C. Chittick (2010)

Well, it was fun for us … mebbe we were still drunk from the wedding reception, mebbe we were just too tired to know any better but we had fun seeing Splice. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Rolling out of a pub drunk and swearing because you are drunk is not the same as fighting 10 drunks in the street with a small stick, a can of food additive and the backup of 2 officers. ❋ Inspector Gadget (2009)

Getting drunk is pleasurable — for many, the most pleasurable thing they could do in a given period of time. ❋ Unknown (2009)

/His voice is stillness, moss and rain/drunk from the forest ages long. ❋ Unknown (2009)

[I’m so drunk]. [Pass] that [bottle of Jack], yo. ❋ Epic Master Of Cynicism (2010)

[Subject] 1: Hey, what were you doing with [my cat] last night?
Subject 2: I don’t know. [I was drunk]. ❋ Marty-mcfly (2009)

Some kid was drunk and decided to publish his definition to UrbanDictionary [just for the fuck of it].
So go ahead, give me the thumbs up or [thumbs down]. [I could care less] ❋ Wittyname (2010)

He’s such a drunk, the President of [Budweiser] Inc sends him a [birthday card]
He so drunk the whole bar [greets] him by name when he comes in ❋ Jerrayl (2004)

Aw man! [I’m so drunk] that your [neighbours] dog is the hottest darn woman I’ve ever seen. Now I’m gunna go [rag] her in the back yard. ❋ Emmaitouchmyself (2007)

You just drank [a boot] full of alcohol, you should be drunk or dead, so you decide it’s a good idea to hit on that seven which is now [a nine]. To keep from falling over and or vomiting [you close] one eye to keep that nine from becoming an 18. ❋ Paul Flora (2008)

The [SAT’s] would be [alot] easier [if I] was drunk. ❋ Justin Wallace (2004)

i got drunk and [puked] on [someones] feet at [a bar]. ❋ Mb71385 (2006)

-«I got so drunk last night but it wasn’t so messy that I threw up or [snogged] some random.»
-«I drunk so much alcohol at the weekend I had to be taken [home in] an [ambulance].»
-«Don’t you mean «drank»?» ❋ Sophieglitterwhip (2008)

i [gotta] be drunk in [order] to have [friends]… ❋ Puhercules (2010)

Welcome to the Slangpedia entry on “drunk”! 🍻😵 Here you’ll find a bunch of slang terms for “drunk” and “intoxicated”, along with slang which is more generally related to the topic of being under the influence. Without further ado, here’s our list of slang words for “drunk”:

  • Intoxicated: Drunk or under the influence of drugs.
    • Usage: ” The mixed drink should not have intoxicated him, but if one drinks enough of any kind of liquor, drunkenness is sure to follow.
  • Tipsy: To be slightly intoxicated or drunk.
    • Usage: “It worked out pretty well, but I’m definitely still tipsy, if not still drunk.”
    • Origin: The first known use of tipsy was in 1577. Originating from the word ‘tip’ which means “to knock down, overturn, topple, knock askew”.
  • Pissed: British, Australian and New Zealand slang word for intoxicated.
    • Usage: “Since he was pissed, and I was sober, he had a hard time keeping up.”
    • Origin: The first known use of the slang word pissed to mean drunk, was in 1929.
  • Pished: Scottish slang for drunk.
    • Usage: “One more drink and he’ll be pished.”
    • Origin: Unknown origin, though most likely originating from the word pissed.
  • Hammered: To be beyond drunk, blindingly intoxicated.
    • Usage: “We were too hammered to run anywhere, so we just bunkered down against the bank and laughed about it.”
    • Origin: hammered meaning “To defeat heavily” is from 1948. Deriving from the word hammer, more specifically to “attack or criticize forcefully and relentlessly”.
  • Crunk: Slang contraction of crazy drunk. Usually only used when someone is wildly drunk.
    • Usage: “Person 1: ‘Dude, crank it up!’ Person 2: ‘Bro, it’s crunk!’”
    • Origin: Originally a style of music featuring repetitive chants and rapid dance rhythms developed in the U.S. South in 1990. In 1999; begun to be a slang contraction of crazy drunk;
  • Sloshed: Often used only to describe the most drunk of people. Sloshed is intoxicated to the point of blacking out.
    • Usage: “They were totally sloshed last night.”
    • Origin: The word slosh means to splash around in a liquid. Someone who is sloshed presumably has alcohol sloshing around in their stomach.
  • Faded: Under the intoxication of a drug or alcohol, to the point in which you are beyond comprehension.
    • Usage: “an, I drank so much last night, I woke up so faded”
    • Origin: The usual definition meaning “having lost freshness, vigor, strength, or health:”
  • Wasted: To be Extremely intoxicated from the use of alcohol.
    • Usage: “I saw him before the party and he was already wasted.”
    • Origin: First sited in the 1950s, to mean intoxicated.
  • Smashed: very drunk. Sometimes meaning intoxicated due to the use of drugs.
    • Usage: “He had a few too many beers and was smashed.”
    • Origin: The first known use of smashed to mean “intoxicated was 1962. Smash meaning to be broken, busted or fractured.
  • Blasted: Intoxicated from drugs or alcohol.
    • Usage: “He got totally blasted at the party.”
    • Origin: “Blasted” meaning “drunk or stoned” dates from 1972. The word “blast” meaning blow up or break apart with explosives.
  • inebriated: A formal way of saying drunk.
    • Usage: “He staggered to his car, but was too inebriated to even start the engine”
    • Origin: From 15th century, from Latin word inebriatus.
  • Steaming: The act of drinking alcohol.
    • Usage: “Come this time of year the mating call of the steamed student can be heard from 11pm till late.”
    • Origin: The phrase ‘getting steaming’ meaning ‘getting drunk’ is well-known in Scottish vernacular and dropped into hungover conversation.
  • Pickled: To be completely dominated by the feelings of drunkenness.
    • Usage: “I must have been rather pickled when I agreed to your stupid scheme.”
    • Origin: Pickled meaning “drunk” is said to be coined in the 1900s, in American English.
  • Zonked: Stupefied by alcohol or drugs, or being completely exhausted.
    • Usage: “later claimed that she was zonked for the entire recording session”
    • Origin: Zonk meaning “fall or cause to fall suddenly and heavily asleep or lose consciousness.”
  • Trashed: intoxicated from the use of alcohol or drugs.
    • Usage: “So that’s why I slept surprisingly well for a guy whose body was trashed with alcohol.”
    • Origin: Trash meaning to vandalize or to destroy, presumably carried across to mean what people felt they were doing to their bodies.
  • off your head: to not be in control of your behaviour because you have drunk too much alcohol or taken drugs.
    • Usage: “You got absolutely off your head that time and you decided not to drink alcohol again.”
    • Origin: To be over head “beyond one’s comprehension”. to be a Head case meaning “eccentric or insane person”.
  • cockeyed:
    • Usage: “I’ve been sick all morning because I got absolutely cockeyed last night.”
    • Origin: formal definition meaning twisted, tilted, or slanted to one side. Cockeyed to mean “drunk” is attested from 1926.

That’s it for our list of slang words for “drunk”. Did we miss any “drunk” synonyms? Please let us know in the form below! 👍😊

Other forms: drunks; drunker; drunkest

If you consume so much alcohol that you become inebriated, you are drunk. If you do it too often, you may become a drunk, which is another, blunter, word for «alcoholic.»

For the last 600 years or so, the word drunk has been used to describe someone who is intoxicated. Someone who’s drunk from alcohol might be unsteady on their feet, slur their speech, or not be able to think straight. But you also can be drunk on things like power, passion or hope. This kind of drunk involves strong feelings or intoxicating emotions instead of one too many beers.

Definitions of drunk

  1. noun

    someone who is intoxicated

  2. adjective

    as if under the influence of alcohol

    drunk with excitement”

    synonyms:

    intoxicated

    excited

    in an aroused state

  3. adjective

    stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol)

    synonyms:

    inebriated, intoxicated

    bacchanal, bacchanalian, bacchic, carousing, orgiastic

    used of riotously drunken merrymaking

    beery

    smelling of beer

    cockeyed

    very drunk

    potty

    slightly intoxicated

    bibulous, boozy, drunken, sottish

    given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol

    drugged, narcotised, narcotized

    under the influence of narcotics

    half-seas-over

    British informal for `intoxicated’

    high, mellow

    slightly and pleasantly intoxicated from alcohol or a drug (especially marijuana)

    hopped-up, stoned

    under the influence of narcotics

DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘drunk’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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