adjective
-
intoxicated with or as if with alcohol
-
frequently or habitually drunk
-
(prenominal) caused by or relating to alcoholic intoxication
a drunken brawl
Usage
See drunk.
Other Word Forms
- drunkenly adverb
- drunkenness noun
- half-drunken adjective
- undrunken adjective
Etymology
Origin of drunken
Variant of drunk adj. and past participle
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.
His "drunken monkey" hypothesis initially met resistance from many scientists, especially primatologists, who argued that primates in the wild do not commonly eat fermented fruits or nectar.
From Science Daily • Dec. 1, 2025
“Are people going to just spend like drunken sailors for this holiday season, and then next year it’s like, ‘Well, we did all our shopping then.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 28, 2025
Arthur begins as a thuggish, cigar-smoking, sausage-eating, drunken clown, until he’s forced, by events, and the possibility of inheriting the presidency, to reckon with himself.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025
You won't find either of them spinning yarns about drunken shenanigans at long ago party conferences, or carrying grudges about things that happened decades ago in student election campaigns.
From BBC • May 25, 2024
But four hours ago, they were fugitives, creeping in bushes, hearts apound, danger surrounding; and now, they sit giddy with escape, surrounded only by companions, drunken on the airiness of flight, recounting mishaps.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
