bibulous
Americanadjective
-
fond of or addicted to drink.
-
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.
He was born in 1972, and was brought up in a housing project in South London, the youngest of four boys, with a strict English mother and a bibulous Irish Catholic father.
From The New Yorker ● May 20, 2019
Colorado - really its farmers and ranchers - are stewards for increasingly bibulous downstream states.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 15, 2018
Dougherty’s bibulous, quick-footed turn is terrific — right at Mendenhall’s and Ingvarsson’s level.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2015
Less well known is his nickname, “Tommy Two Dinners,” coined after a bibulous lunch at the Gay Hussar that somehow merged into dinner.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2015
Large numbers should not be thrown into a killing bottle together, and plenty of bibulous paper should be kept in the bottle to prevent moisture from accumulating and wetting and ruining the specimens.
From Directions for Collecting and Preserving Insects by C. V. Riley
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.
