† drunkenn.
Obsolete.
Drunkenness, intoxication.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drunkenness
drunkennessc893
drunkenc950
drunknessc1160
drunkenheada1300
drunkhead1340
drunkelewnessa1387
winedrunkennessa1387
drunkship1393
drunkelewc1430
vinolence1430
yverescec1430
drunkenshipc1440
drunkelecc1450
barley-hooda1529
ebriety1582
alecy1594
distemper1600
insobriety1611
disguisea1616
perpotation1623
temulency1623
vinolency1623
intoxication1624
pot-shot1630
ebriosity1646
inebriation1646
Bacchation1656
fluster1710
temulentness1727
fuddle1764
inebriety1801
temulence1803
Lushington1823
fluffiness1860
booziness1863
jag1891
brannigan1892
befuddlement1905
mokus1924
muzzy-headedness1930
pixilation1936
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xxi. 34 Ne sie ahefigad hearto iuero on oferfyllo & mið druuncen [Rushw. druncennisse].
a1000 Imposition of Penance in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. (1840) II. 276 Gif hit þurh druncen gewurþe.
a1200 Moral Ode 253 Þe luueden tening and stale, hordom and drunken.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
drunkenadj.
/ˈdrʌŋkən/ 1.
a. Overcome by liquor; intoxicated; = drunk adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
a1050 Liber Scintill. (1889) xxviii. 107 Ealswa se druncena [ebriosus] win onfehð unhold.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27894 Þe drunken semes in his misfare Noght lik þe man þat he was are.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 871 He woren drunken and slepi.
c1386 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Prol. 852 Ye fare as folkes that dronken ben of ale.
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun 3642 Some..saide thai ware dronken and fulle of must hardily.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 630 How King Duncane send the Wyne and Aill browin with mukil Wort to King Sueno, quhairwith thai war all drokin.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 27 They..seis'd with Youthful Arms the drunken God.
c1850 Arabian Nights (Rtldg.) 494 Drunken people are never seen making disturbances in open day.
1865 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies III. iv. 95 Who drink till they are drunken.
b. In proverbs and locutions.
ΚΠ
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1500 [He] bibbes þer-of Tyl he be dronkken as the deuel.
1562 Bp. J. Pilkington Wks. (Parker Soc.) 51 ‘A drunken man is always dry’, according to the proverb.
1619 R. Harris Drunkards Cup 13 A drunken man neuer takes harme.
1887 Scotsman 19 Mar. The drucken man gets the drucken penny.
c. transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > happiness > [adjective] > dizzy with happiness
drunkena1340
drunk1340
slappy1937
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxxv. 9 Þan sall þai all be drunkyn in god þat wonys in godis hows.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxix. 9 Be ȝe drunken inwardli, and not of wyn.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. gvi Inebriate or dronken with heuenly ioye.
1578 T. Tymme tr. J. Calvin Comm. Genesis 313 Dronken with the flatteries of prosperity.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xvi. 196 We were so drunken with cold that we strode on steadily.
2. Given to drink; habitually intemperate. (The more common current sense.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > alcoholic or addicted to drinking
drunkensomea1300
drunkelew1362
drunksomec1475
drunken1548
boozing1569
boozy1592
bousy1592
moisty1593
unsober1611
upsy-friesy1617
moist1619
sottish1632
swilling1633
bibacious1663
intemperate1680
swill-bellied1680
swill-down1693
wet1699
potative1737
compotatory1817
alcoholic1845
drinking1856
bibulous1861
on the drink1865
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xxviv Could neither haue money nor men of the dronken Fleminges.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) v. i. 280 Is not this Stephano, my drunken Butler? View more context for this quotation
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. iii. 29 You..represent your friend in the character of a drunken landlord.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 297 I've been at drucken Writers' feasts.
1849 E. E. Napier Excursions Southern Afr. I. 163 Drunken, lazy, good-for-nothing fellows.
3.
a. Of actions, etc.: Characterized by or proceeding from intoxication.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > relating to drunkenness
drunken1591
inebriative1615
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Bevida Drink, a potion, a drunken match.
1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 44 in Jewell House Dutch & drunken deuises, about the gaining of the grounde.
1632 P. Massinger Maid of Honour i. i. sig. B2v To take up A drunken brawle.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 189. ⁋6 Men who..destroy in a drunken frolick the happiness of families.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 100 Pointing to his drunken sleep.
b. Of or pertaining to drink or drunkenness.
ΚΠ
1607 G. Wilkins Inforced Marr. v, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) IX. 556 You in riot's house, A drunken tavern, spilled my maintenance.
1797 E. Burke Three Mem. French Affairs 71 The delirium of a low, drunken alehouse-club.
c. That causes drunkenness. See sense Compounds 2.
4. transferred. Soaked or saturated with moisture; sometimes (with sense affected by 1) ‘drowned’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [adjective]
thorough wetOE
drunk1382
drunkenc1420
uliginosec1440
dung wetc1450
drookeda1522
wet through, to the skin1526
sogginga1552
washed1557
washy1566
muck-wet1567
wringing wet1570
drenched1589
dropsy1605
ydrenched1610
sobby1611
dropsieda1616
slocken1643
uliginous1650
dabbling1661
sodded1661
sobbing1664
sobbed1693
flashy1702
saturated1728
saturate1785
livereda1796
sappy1806
laving1812
sodden1820
sopped1822
soppy1823
soaked1829
dropsical1845
soddened1845
soaking wet1847
soggya1852
sogged1860
soaking1864
sopping1866
soaken1898
astream1929
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. ix. 34 But glad is hit [radish] to loke on drunkun ayer.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Deut. xxxii. 42 I wil make myne arowes dronken with bloude.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. ii. sig. Dd5v Shee..The dronken lamp down in the oyl did steepe.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 54 The..Ploughman..drains the standing Waters, when they yield Too large a Bev'rage to the drunken Field. View more context for this quotation
5. figurative. Of a thing: Uneven, unsteady, reeling in motion or course; off the vertical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective]
waveringc1540
tilting1606
titubating1653
volatile1654
tittering1661
drunken1786
wavery1820
vacillating1822
joggly1828
yawing1835
teetering1845
wambly1857
pecky1864
drunk1881
teetery1900
wambling1908
1786 [implied in: Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 76 21 To free the screw from what workmen call drunkenness. (at drunkenness n. c)].
1870 Eng. Mech. 11 Feb. 526/2 There are no abrupt breaks to form what would be called by a screw chaser ‘a drunken thread’.
1876 J. Rose Compl. Pract. Machinist (1885) 106 If the tool is moved irregularly or becomes checked in its forward movement, the thread will become drunken, that is, it will not move forward at a uniform speed.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 69 You have now..no excuse for drunken architecture.
Compounds
C1.
drunkenmost adj. most drunken, drunkenest.
ΚΠ
1854 H. Vicars in Miss Marsh Mem. vii. 143 Four hundred of the drunkenmost and wildest men in the regiment.
C2. esp. in names of intoxicating plants, or of such as suggest drunkenness. † drunken-wort n. Obsolete tobacco (Minsheu Ductor 1617).
drunken date n. the betel-nut tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > areca palms
areca1588
faufel1594
drunken date1597
pinang1606
cabbage tree1661
betel-tree1681
mountain cabbage1681
cabbage palm1770
cabbage palmetto1802
betel palm1861
catechu palm1866
supari1904
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > yielding masticatory products > [noun] > areca palm, nut, or leaf
areca1588
faufel1594
drunken date1597
supari1598
pinang1606
betel nut1681
monkey-face1700
betel palm1861
catechu palm1866
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1337 Areca, siue Fausel. The drunken Date tree.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Noisette des Indes, the drunken Date.
drunken plant n. = drunken rye-grass n.
drunken rye-grass n. darnel grass, Lolium temulentum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > [noun] > darnel
cockleOE
drakea1325
darnelc1325
raya1398
popplea1425
ivray1578
white darnel1597
sturdy1683
roseager1692
drunken rye-grass1891
1891 G. F. X. Griffith tr. C. Fouard Christ I. 304 note L'ivraie, drunken rye-grass.
Categories »
C3.
drunken Parliament n. = drinking Parliament n. at drinking adj. Compounds.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† drunkenv.1
Obsolete.figurative.a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxxi. 14 Y shal inwardly drunkne the soule of the prestus with fatnesse.
1. intransitive. To become swallowed up or sunk in water; to suffer drowning, be drowned.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > manner of death > die in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > die of drowning
adrinkeOE
drunkenc950
drenchc1000
adrenchc1230
drenklec1330
drown1382
fordrench1430
to be food for fishes1561
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 30 Mið ðy ongann druncnia [Rushw. in-gon sincan, Ags. G. wearð gedofen] cliopade cueð drihten hal mec doa.
a1225 St. Marher. 15 Ich leade ham..into se deop dung þt ha druncneð þerin.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 48 Þet beast þrin ne falle & druncni in sunne.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24862 Quen þe scip suld quelm and drunken [v.r. dronkin].
c1325 Metr. Hom. 138 In se dronkenes folc ful fele.
2. transitive. To swallow up in water; to drown.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > kill [verb (transitive)] > by drowning
adrenchOE
drunkenc1175
ofdrunkenc1175
drenchc1200
drowna1300
drenklea1325
drunka1375
stiflea1387
drinkc1425
overfleetc1425
bishop1840
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6795 All follc wass þurrh noþess flod O noþess time drunncnedd.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 39 Þe swin urnen..into þe sæ, and druncnede hem seluen.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter Cant. 504 Hys chosen prynces ere drunkynd in þe rede see.
3. To drench, saturate or soak with liquid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > make very wet [verb (transitive)]
drenchc1000
washc1275
drowna1300
drunkena1300
drunka1382
bewetc1400
bedrenchc1450
bucka1513
sowp1513
drooka1522
sousea1542
soaken1577
overdrown1579
soss1587
embay1590
steep1590
overdrencha1592
embathe1593
indrench1593
imbue1594
douse1606
besob1609
bucket1621
sob1625
dash1670
sop1682
saturate1696
float1729
water1754
sodden1812
douche1864
poach1881
tosh1883
sod1895
a1300 E.E. Psalter lxiv [lxv.] 10 Þou soght þe land, and dronkened it yhite.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter lxviii[i]. 3 Þe storme me drownkynd.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xvi. 9 I shal drunkne thee with my tere.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. lv. 10 What maner cometh doun weder and snoȝ fro heuene, and..drunkneth [a1425 fillith, L. inebriat] the erthe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
† drunkenv.2
Obsolete.
intransitive. To drink to excess, to become drunk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > get drunk
drunkenc1000
to wash one's face in an ale clout1550
to shoe the goose, gosling1566
to catch, hunt the fox1599
to swallow a tavern-token1601
to read Geneva print1608
to whip the cat1622
inebriate1626
to hunt a tavern-fox1635
fox1649
mug1653
to fuddle one's cap or nose1663
to lose one's legs1770
gin1789
stone1858
to beer up1884
slop1899
to get, have, tie a bun on1901
shicker1906
souse1921
lush1926
to cop a reeler1937
to tie one on1951
c1000 Ælfric Homilies II. 70 Þonne ða gebeoras druncniað.
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid ii. iii. 55 If a Patient..fall on gourmandizing and drunkning, then no good is to be looked for.
1693 T. Southerne Maids Last Prayer 56 The Captain has been Drunkning with my Lord all Night.
1697 View Penal Laws 3 Notorious Offenders, such as continue drunkening at late and unseasonable hours.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
<
n.c950
adj.a1050v.1c950v.2c1000