dry drunk

British

noun

an alcoholic who is not currently drinking alcohol but is still following an irregular undisciplined lifestyle like that of a drunkard

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

“But, to be honest, there is such a thing as a dry drunk. I could see that he was in a very delicate position.”

From The New Yorker

“You are what is considered a ‘dry drunk.’

From Seattle Times

Brownstein is like a dry drunk on the subject of indie identity politics.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023