drunkard

American  

[druhng-kerd] / ˈdrʌŋ kərd /

noun

Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a habitual drinker of alcohol who is frequently intoxicated.

   Synonyms:

   tippler, sot, lush

   Antonyms:

   teetotaler

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drunkard British  

/ ˈdrʌŋkəd /

noun

1. a person who is frequently or habitually drunk

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Related Words

See inebriate.

Etymology

Origin of drunkard

First recorded in 1520–40; drunk, -ard

Example Sentences

With imaginative sympathy Tolstoy becomes a general in battle, a young girl at her first ball, a disillusioned prince, a drunkard, a lover—often amid a backdrop “laden with snow.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Franklin Pierce, although a Northerner, fiercely defended slavery while signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act; he was a drunkard to boot.

From Salon

God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America.

From Washington Post

In our search for cosmic signals of dark matter, we could be likened to drunkards looking for lost keys beneath lampposts, where the light shines the brightest.

From Scientific American

A cluster of townspeople who might have been written off as bumpkins, drunkards and clowns coalesces into something like a lynch mob.

From New York Times