alcoholic
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or of the nature of alcohol.
The fermented milk has a mildly alcoholic flavor.
-
containing or using alcohol.
The bar serves beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages.
-
caused by alcohol.
alcoholic fermentation.
-
of or like a person with alcoholism or alcohol use disorder.
She hadn’t seen or spoken to her alcoholic aunt in over a decade.
-
preserved in alcohol.
Tissue shrinking in alcoholic specimens did not affect nuclear composition.
noun
noun
adjective
Sensitive Note
See addict.
Related Words
See inebriate.
Other Word Forms
- alcoholically adverb
- semialcoholic adjective
Etymology
Origin of alcoholic
Explanation
Something that's alcoholic contains alcohol. At a party, the host may offer a pitcher of alcoholic punch and another of non-alcoholic punch. Use alcoholic to describe something that has alcohol in it, or otherwise has to do with alcohol. Alcoholic cider, for example, is fermented, and drinking too much can be intoxicating. The noun alcoholic means a person who's dependent on alcohol, whose drinking has become compulsive and unhealthy. This meaning developed in the late 1800s, from the earlier term alcoholist. The group Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 for alcoholics to help themselves and others quit drinking.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Items affected by the year-earlier tax holiday saw a rise in comparable prices, particularly for restaurant meals and, to a lesser degree, for alcoholic drinks, toys and children’s clothing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
That sort of disdain is still present in the industry -- no-alcohol wines still struggle to match their alcoholic equivalents for complexity and taste -- but attitudes are changing fast.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
If eaten in the right order, locals say, fresh notes should emerge with each glob on the flight: caramel, custard and finally, an almost alcoholic bitterness heralding the Musang King.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2026
And fruity martinis fit perfectly into this cultural moment: drinks that feel like cocktails but don’t taste aggressively alcoholic.
From Salon • Nov. 30, 2025
After the Georgia legislature declared a prohibition against alcoholic beverages in 1907, Papa quit making or drinking beer—he believed in being law-abiding—and the churches started using fruit nectars instead of wine.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
