tipsyadj.
/ˈtɪpsi/, U.S. /ˈtɪpsi/ a. Affected with liquor so as to be unable to walk or stand steadily; partly intoxicated: often euphemistic for Intoxicated, inebriated, drunk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > partially drunk
merrya1382
semi-bousyc1460
pipe merry1542
totty1570
tipsy1577
martin-drunk1592
pleasant1596
mellow1611
tip-merry1612
flustered1615
lusticka1616
well to live1619
jolly1652
happy1662
hazy1673
top-heavy1687
hearty1695
half-seas-over1699
oiled1701
mellowish1703
half channelled over1709
drunkish1710
half-and-half1718
touched1722
uppisha1726
tosie1727
bosky1730
funny1751
fairish1756
cherry-merry1769
in suds1770
muddy1776
glorious1790
groggified1796
well-corned1800
fresh1804
to be mops and brooms1814
foggy1816
how-come-ye-so1816
screwy1820
off the nail1821
on (also, esp. in early use, upon) the go1821
swipey1821
muggy1822
rosy1823
snuffy1823
spreeish1825
elevated1827
up a stump1829
half-cockedc1830
tightish1830
tipsified1830
half shaved1834
screwed1837
half-shot1838
squizzed1845
drinky1846
a sheet in the wind1862
tight1868
toppy1885
tiddly1905
oiled-up1918
bonkers1943
sloshed1946
tiddled1956
hickey-
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. vi. xlii. 118 About tenne of the clocke, when as they were some what tipsie and wel crommed with vitayles.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 48 The ryot of the tipsie Bachanals. View more context for this quotation
a1627 T. Middleton More Dissemblers besides Women iv. ii, in 2 New Playes (1657) 50 He that's a Gipsey, May be drunk or tipsey.
a1668 W. Davenant Play-house to Let (1673) v. i Sure Tony and you have drunk till y'are tipsey.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Tipsy, a'most Drunk.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Tipsy, that is a little in Drink, fuddled.
1777 F. Burney Let. 7 Apr. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 237 She forced wine & water..down her throat till she was almost tipsey.
1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae viii. 213 I have seen them flee from him when he was tipsy, and stone him when he was drunk.
b. transferred. Characterized or accompanied by intoxication; arising from or causing tipsiness.
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1637 J. Milton Comus 5 Tipsie dance, and Jollitie.
1760 F. Fawkes tr. Anacreon Odes in tr. Anacreon Wks. xli. 24 Then let me, warm with Wine, advance, And revel in the Tipsy Dance.
1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists i. 30 He was not bred up in a tipsy guard-room.
c. figurative. Affected as if by intoxicating liquor; unsteady as if from drink; inclined to tip or tilt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective] > tottering > unstable
unstable1390
unsteadfasta1400
tickle1515
unstayed1594
unsteady1598
shittle1601
firmless1605
flitty1642
totty1652
shuttlec1682
unfirm1697
wankly1795
wankya1825
cockery1825
wobbly1833
tottlish1835
earthquaky1837
tottling1849
shaky1850
cockly1859
unsteadied1865
shoggy1866
wankle1869
wibblety-wobblety1877
cockerty1895
tipsy1895
rocky1900
wibbly-wobbly1901
tottly1905
topply1913
wibbly1914
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VI. ix. 31 Lord G. could not keep his seat: He was tipsy poor man with his joy.
1852 H. Rogers Ess. I. vii. 339 He was..intellectually as tipsy as ever nitrous oxide could have made him.
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. Tipsy..3. Bobbing and swaying; tipping about; also, liable to tip;..as, a tipsy boat.
1905 Daily News 26 Aug. 6 They [‘To Let’ boards] lean into the street at all sorts of tipsy angles.
Compounds
tipsy key n. a kind of watch-key invented by Bréguet: see quot. 1884.
ΚΠ
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 36 Tipsy Key, a watch key in which the upper and lower portions are connected by means of a ratchet clutch kept in gear by a spring, so that the upper part will turn the lower part in the proper direction for winding.
ˈtipsy-ˈtopsy adj. [compare topsy-turvy] upset or in disorder as if tipsy.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > [adjective] > in utter disorder
topsy-turvy1618
chaotic1688
chaotical1826
tipsy-topsy1826
upside down1866
topsy-turvical1882
1826 T. Hood She is far from Land in Whims & Oddities 76 Trunks tipsy-topsy, The ship in a dropsy.
Derivatives
ˈtipsy v. (transitive) to make tipsy, tipsify.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (transitive)] > make drunk
fordrenchc1000
indrunkena1300
mazec1390
distemper1491
whittle1530
swill1548
inebriate1555
disguise1560
intoxicatea1566
tipple1566
overtake1577
betipple1581
seethe1599
fuddlec1600
fox1611
wound1613
cupa1616
fuzzle1621
to gild overa1625
sousea1625
tip1637
tosticate1650
drunkify1664
muddle1668
tipsy1673
sop1682
fuzz1685
confound1705
mellowa1761
prime1788
lush1821
soak1826
touch1833
rosin1877
befuddle1887
slew1888
lush1927
wipe1972
1673 T. Shadwell Epsom-Wells i Why, I..got a little tipsy'd, as they say, and forgot it.
1691 T. Shadwell Scowrers v. i. 51 I was typsied last night.
1849 G. P. R. James Woodman I. iv. 71 A butt of it would not have tipsied a sucking lamb.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1577