bibulous
Americanadjective
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fond of or addicted to drink.
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absorbent; spongy.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bibulous
1665–75; < Latin bibulus ( bib ( ere ) to drink (cognate with Sanskrit píbati (he) drinks) + -ulus -ulous )
Explanation
The adjective bibulous describes something that is highly absorbent, like a towel or sponge that soaks up liquid well. A bibulous person, however, is someone who likes to drink alcohol. Bibulous, pronounced "BIB-you-luhs," comes from the Latin word bibere, which means "to drink." You may recognize this root in the verb imbibe, which often means "to consume alcohol." As it applies to people, bibulous means "likes to drink alcohol." So don't make the mistake of using it to describe someone who seems to soak up information or understand complicated ideas quickly.
Vocabulary lists containing bibulous
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.
Mr. Humphries created a string of other characters over the years, notably the boorish, bibulous Australian cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson.
From New York Times • Apr. 22, 2023
Colorado - really its farmers and ranchers - are stewards for increasingly bibulous downstream states.
From Washington Times • Sep. 15, 2018
Old-school voters expecting him to reinstate the fading habit of the long and bibulous lunch may have to wait.
From The New Yorker • May 9, 2017
Dougherty’s bibulous, quick-footed turn is terrific — right at Mendenhall’s and Ingvarsson’s level.
From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2015
Holding in his supple fingers both the husband and the wife, and exercising due dominion over the bibulous chevalier, it would be curious if, by and by, the abb� did not attain his ends.
From The Maid of Honour, Volume 2 (of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Wingfield, Lewis
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.
