bibulous
Americanadjective
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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.
A person described as bibulous has a fondness for what?
From Slate • Dec. 25, 2023
Charlotte Rampling straddles dry humor and withering tragedy as a bibulous grandmother in “Juniper.”
From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2023
From that bibulous beginning, Mr. Epstein became a driving force behind the Library of America, which published its first books in 1979.
From Washington Post • Feb. 4, 2022
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
Everything fried in fat should be placed on bibulous paper to absorb any fat on the surfaces.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 3 "Convention" to "Copyright" by Various
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.
