drunk·en·ness \-kən(n)ə̇s\noun (-es) Etymology: Middle English drunkennesse, from Old English druncenness, from druncen + -nesse -ness 1.: the condition of being drunk with or as if with alcohol : intoxication 2.: alcoholism 3.: mental or emotional extravagance suggestive of the disorders caused by alcohol < the drunkenness of factious animosity — T.B.Macaulay >