- past participle of intoxicate.
- past tense form of intoxicate.
intoxicated
Americanadjective
-
affected by a substance that intoxicates; drunk; inebriated.
-
mentally or emotionally exhilarated.
- Synonyms:
- enthralled, ecstatic, enrapt, rapturous, rapt
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intoxicated
First recorded in 1550–60; intoxicate + -ed 2
Compare meaning
How does intoxicated compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Someone who's intoxicated has had too much to drink. Visit an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day and you're sure to see at least one intoxicated person. When you describe someone as intoxicated, you usually mean that he's been drinking alcoholic beverages until he feels dizzy and sick. You can also use the word to talk about someone who's really excited or happy about something: "She was intoxicated by Paris the minute she stepped off the airplane." Before intoxicated was first used to mean "drunk" in the 1570's, it meant "poisoned," which especially makes sense when you know the Latin root word, intoxicare, "to poison."
Vocabulary lists containing intoxicated
Three Little Words
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"The Nightingale" by Hans Christian Andersen
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Elf Dog and Owl Head
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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.
Newsom also signed AB 1685, which would increase the number of points against a driver’s record if they’re convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and with gross negligence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Although there’s no indication that Mr. Kidd is pickled in drink, it’s clear that he’s intoxicated with the idea of Oxbridge, the portmanteau that describes the elite world of Oxford and Cambridge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
The children's commissioner for England is warning that kids in the UK are "becoming intoxicated by extremism" on social media, the Times reports.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
When it made its stateside debut in 1999, I was still intoxicated by the city’s proximity to mountains, old growth forests and water – so much of it, fresh or salty.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Lyra was intoxicated; not about the North this time, but about London, and the restaurants and ballrooms, the soirées at embassies or ministries, the intrigues between White Hall and Westminster.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
