inebriated

American  

[in-ee-bree-ey-tid] / ɪnˈi briˌeɪ tɪd /

Sometimes inebriate

adjective

1. drunk or intoxicated, or exhilarated or stupefied in a way that suggests intoxication.

   An inebriated couple were arrested when they took their granddaughter for a joyride, pulling her in a toy car behind their van.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of inebriate.

Other Word Forms

• uninebriated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of inebriated

inebriate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does inebriated compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• inebriated vs. intoxicated

Explanation

Inebriated is just a fancy way of saying drunk. If you see a man staggering down the street grasping a bottle of rum in his hand, chances are he's inebriated. When you want to use an impressive word to say that someone is drunk, go ahead and use inebriated. If you like, you can also use it to refer to someone who is intoxicated with substances other than alcohol, but at its heart, inebriated simply means tanked, blotto, stinko, drunk. In more recent years, it has taken on the sense of being particularly energized or zany and exhilarated with drunkenness, but still drunk.

Example Sentences

While he testified that Depp became increasingly inebriated, he said he witnessed an argument between the couple, and Depp “was kind of cowering and seemed almost afraid,” which was “odd to see.”

From Washington Post • May 24, 2022

Cuomo defended the food-with-drinks rule over his concerns about inebriated people mingling at bars without social distancing.

From Washington Times • Apr. 28, 2021

Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum came out as bisexual in an interview with Tamron Hall that aired Monday, six months after he was found inebriated and vomiting in a Miami hotel room.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2020

Alternatively, a big dollop of very white, very thick cream is a fitting partner, making your patiently inebriated and majestic pears even more alluring.

From The Guardian • Jan. 30, 2018

What Disraeli said of Gladstone was also true of Churchill: he was “a sophisticated rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.”

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith