tipsy
Americanadjective
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slightly intoxicated or drunk.
-
characterized by or due to intoxication.
a tipsy lurch.
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tipping, unsteady, or tilted, as if from intoxication.
adjective
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slightly drunk
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slightly tilted or tipped; askew
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tipsy
1570–80; tip 2 or obsolete tip strong drink (perhaps back formation from tipple 1 ) + -sy. Compare obsolete bumpsy in same sense
Explanation
Use tipsy to describe a person who's just slightly drunk. If you've ever been to a wedding reception, you've probably seen a tipsy person. Your aunt who gets a little tipsy on New Year's Eve might giggle more than usual, for example. You can also describe an inanimate object as tipsy, if it's wobbly or unstable, or even a little crooked. Tipsy comes from tip and its meaning of "slope or overturn." The old-fashioned verb tipple, to drink alcohol, came later. In the 1800's, a "tipsy cake" was one soaked in alcohol.
Vocabulary lists containing tipsy
With the Fire on High
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Zeitoun
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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.
They built multimillion-dollar mansions or bought mobile homes, then rubbed shoulders at businesses on Periwinkle Way, at the Sandbar, Tipsy Turtle and Jerry’s Foods.
From Washington Post • Oct. 2, 2022
End a day of wildlife explorations in Placencia with a proper sundowner at either Tipsy Tuna for chicken wings and karaoke, or Barefoot Beach Bar for burgers and live music.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 14, 2021
Among the venues Swift visited was the Tipsy Bird bar in the city centre.
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2021
The business Tipsy Cones is based in Stratford, Conn., and during the majority of the pandemic, Connecticut limited capacity at gatherings.
From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2021
I don’t wish old Tipsy any harm, but I should like him to have this job.
From Trapped by Malays A Tale of Bayonet and Kris by Spurrier, Steven
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.
