under the influence

Idioms  

1. Impaired functioning owing to alcohol consumption, as in He was accused of driving under the influence. This expression, from legal jargon, is short for under the influence of intoxicating liquor and implies that one is not completely drunk. Since it is nearly always applied to drivers suspected or so accused, it has given rise to the police acronym DUI, for “driving under the influence.” [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

To make this possible, the research team trained a neural network to recognize how temperature patterns on the ocean surface shift and change shape under the influence of currents.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026

A California state senator alleges that police officers fabricated evidence to falsely accuse her of driving under the influence after she was T-boned at an intersection near the state Capitol.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

A major issue is the expanding bear population, which is growing fast due to an abundance of food -- including acorns, deer and boars -- under the influence of a warming climate, experts say.

From Barron's • Nov. 8, 2025

In the wake of Storm Benjamin, the UK will come under the influence of a brisk northerly wind, which could reach gale force at times along eastern counties on Saturday.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

That sense of inward concentration, of a rapture “completely under the influence of his own thoughts,” gives something of the idea of how a speaker might inhabit, or be inhabited by, his speech.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith