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
-
alcoholics
plural
noun
adjective
Sensitivity
See addict.
Synonym Usage
See inebriate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
As the value of wool is reduced to almost nothing, Eva and her husband test the market for tanned sheepskins, mounted rams’ heads and a turnip-based alcoholic drink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Statistics Jersey said increases in the cost of household services, alcoholic drinks and food made the most notable contributions to annual rate of inflation.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Canadian provinces had looked poised to put American alcoholic products back on their store shelves last month as Trump and Canadian officials appeared close to achieving a new trade deal.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
The response targets various alcoholic drinks and dairy products like whey, according to a series of White House statements signed by the president.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Also because it has this big old madman desk in it that D.B. bought off some lady alcoholic in Philadelphia, and this big, gigantic bed that's about ten miles wide and ten miles long.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Children of alcoholics are most often on high alert trying to anticipate other people’s feelings, so they can try to head off problems or incidents before they become overwhelming.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2022
The decision not to entirely fictionalise the island was deliberate: it isn’t renamed, and there is a reference to its former owner, Frederick Charrington, a 19th-century social reformer who created a community for recovering alcoholics.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 7, 2020
Some advocates trace L.A.'s failed policies to the city's 1975 "containment" policy on skid row, long the haven of last resort for alcoholics, the unemployable and disabled people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2019
I'm sure studies have been done but what percentages of the homeless can be categorized as the mentally il and what percentages are considered alcoholics or drug addicts?
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2018
He was active, industrious, enjoyed good health, and was not addicted to alcoholics.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
