tipsy
Americanadjective
-
slightly intoxicated or drunk.
-
characterized by or due to intoxication.
a tipsy lurch.
-
tipping, unsteady, or tilted, as if from intoxication.
adjective
-
slightly drunk
-
slightly tilted or tipped; askew
Other Word Forms
- tipsily adverb
- tipsiness noun
Etymology
Origin of tipsy
1570–80; tip 2 or obsolete tip strong drink (perhaps back formation from tipple 1 ) + -sy. Compare obsolete bumpsy in same sense
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.
This is a comic epic of bursting balloons and black eyes, tipsy aunts and tottering uncles, an errant mouse and driving snows.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
It’s as if he’s saying to us and all the tipsy ladies in the audience: Check this out — LOL, right?
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Yes, Jacklyn’s all smiles and compliments until a tipsy Laurie retires, giving the others some one-on-one time.
From Salon • Mar. 10, 2025
And out of Erika Girardi’s tipsy mouth poured this gem at dinner: “Merce is in the purse.”
From New York Times • Feb. 8, 2024
She tottered past the docks, where a few small fishing boats and merchant ships were moored to the tipsy piers.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
