drunk as a lord

Idioms  

1. Also,;. Extremely intoxicated, as in He came home drunk as a lord. The three similes have survived numerous others. The first was considered proverbial by the mid-1600s and presumably alludes to the fact that noblemen drank more than commoners (because they could afford to). The fiddler alludes to the practice of plying musicians with alcohol (sometimes instead of pay), whereas skunk, dating from the early 1900s, was undoubtedly chosen for the rhyme. The most graphic variant alludes to someone too drunk to keep his or her balance, as in He couldn't make it up the stairs; be was falling-down drunk. And roaring drunk, alluding to being extremely noisy as well as intoxicated, was first recorded in 1697. Also see dead drunk.

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Example Sentences

“On New Year’s 1971, drunk as a lord, he promised to take her to Alaska,” Judge recalled.

From Seattle Times

“On New Year’s 1971, drunk as a lord, he promised to take her to Alaska,” Judge recalled.

From Washington Times

The result was, that a party of Canada Indians made an inroad on his command, and the old colonel, who was as bold as a lion, and as drunk as a lord, though why lords are supposed to be particularly inclined to drink I never could tell, was both shot down and scalped early one morning as he was returning from an adjacent tavern to his quarters in the "garrison," where he was stationed.

From Project Gutenberg

The New English Dictionary suggests that it refers to the use of “blood” for a young rowdy of aristocratic birth, which was common at the end of the 17th century, and later became synonymous with “dandy,” “buck,” &c.; “bloody drunk” meant therefore “drunk as a blood,” “drunk as a lord.”

From Project Gutenberg

"I've seen Willard; I've seen Wyndham," said the puzzled captain, "and I thought I'd seen 'David Garrick' played to perfection, but if Private Beauty Blenke, of Company 'C,' Sixty-first Foot, wasn't drunk as a lord that night, then Willard and Wyndham aren't in the business."

From Project Gutenberg