drunkard

noun

drunk·​ard ˈdrəŋ-kərd How to pronounce drunkard (audio)
: one who is habitually drunk

Examples of drunkard in a Sentence

Her father was a drunkard. accused him of being a no-good drunkard who needed professional help for his problem
Recent Examples on the Web You would now be regarded on the same level as deadbeat drunkards and child molesters. James Erwin, National Review, 26 Jan. 2024 Its plot concerns a large cast of characters undergoing radical metamorphoses: prerevolutionary drunkards become postrevolutionary zealots, simple peasants become shrewd military commanders, and MEK fighters become the regime’s number one enemy. Amir Ahmadi Arian, Harper's Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023 There is an old joke about a drunkard searching for his keys under a streetlight. Oliver Bullough, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2019 Doing so may require more of the maze to be visited than a random drunkard's walk solution or the classic right-hand-to-the-wall solution. Scientific American, 1 June 2015 The frequency of these repairs suggests the stool was in regular use—a supposition supported by William Andrews’ 1899 book Bygone Punishments, which details the history of ducking stools and similarly obsolete devices, from the Scottish Maiden to the drunkard’s cloak. Katie Dancey-Downs, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 July 2022 Her zeal inspires those around her, including the dozen or two others from around their small former-mining village — a butcher, a drunkard, a widow — who join in a syndicate, tossing in money to help pay the fee to breed the mare with a successful racehorse and train the foal that comes from it. Jake Coyle, Star Tribune, 19 May 2021 And when the victory shall be complete — when there shall be neither a slave nor a drunkard on the earth — how proud the title of that Land, which may truly claim to be the birthplace and the cradle of both those revolutions, that shall have ended in that victory. Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 14 Aug. 2020 The Irish tell a story about a notorious drunkard and trickster named Jack. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Oct. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'drunkard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of drunkard was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near drunkard

Cite this Entry

“Drunkard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drunkard. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

drunkard

noun
drunk·​ard ˈdrəŋ-kərd How to pronounce drunkard (audio)
: a person who makes a habit of getting drunk

Medical Definition

drunkard

noun
drunk·​ard ˈdrəŋ-kərd How to pronounce drunkard (audio)
: one suffering from or subject to acute or chronic alcoholism : one who habitually becomes drunk

More from Merriam-Webster on drunkard

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