alcoholic

alcoholic — adjective

1. used for a drink or other liquid that has alcohol in it.

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

used for a drink or other liquid that has alcohol in it.

Example

The hotel bar serves alcoholic drinks after six every evening.

collocation: alcoholic drink

At the night market, adults bought alcoholic cider while the children chose tea.

Common collocations
  • alcoholic drink
  • alcoholic beverage
  • alcoholic cider
  • alcoholic products
Synonyms
  • boozy

    informal; often suggests a strong or lively drinking atmosphere

  • hard

    mainly American; common in phrases like 'hard liquor' or 'hard seltzer'

  • spiked

    used when alcohol has been added to a drink that is usually non-alcoholic

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

alcoholic drink

alcoholic beverage

be alcoholic

Usage Note

Most often used before nouns such as 'drink', 'beverage', 'beer', or 'wine'. Distinguish from sense 2, which describes a person with dependence on alcohol.

Common Mistakes

Sparkling water is an alcoholic drink.
Sparkling water is a non-alcoholic drink.
'alcoholic' means the drink contains alcohol.
This beer has many alcohol.
This beer is alcoholic.
use 'alcoholic' to describe a drink, not 'many alcohol'.

2. describes someone who has become dependent on alcohol and cannot control drinkin

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

describes someone who has become dependent on alcohol and cannot control drinking without help.

Example

After years of hiding bottles, Ken finally admitted he was alcoholic.

pattern: be alcoholic

The doctor said Maria's father was alcoholic and needed long-term support.

Common collocations
  • be alcoholic
  • become alcoholic
  • describe someone as alcoholic
  • call someone alcoholic
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

be alcoholic

become alcoholic

describe someone as alcoholic

Usage Note

Often appears after 'be', 'become', or verbs such as 'call' and 'describe'. In careful or medical contexts, many speakers prefer person-first wording such as 'a person with alcohol dependence' or 'a person with alcohol use disorder'.

Common Mistakes

He is alcohol.
He is alcoholic.
'alcohol' is the substance; 'alcoholic' is the adjective for this sense.
She is addicted of alcohol.
She is addicted to alcohol.
with 'addicted', use the preposition 'to', not 'of'.

alcoholic — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Alcoholic' is the neutral everyday word for a drink or liquid that contains alcohol. 'Boozy' is more informal and often suggests plenty of drinking or a cheerful, slightly wild mood, as in 'a boozy party'. 'Hard' is mainly American and appears in fixed phrases such as 'hard liquor' or newer product names like 'hard seltzer'; it usually points to an alcoholic version of something. 'Spiked' means alcohol was added, often to a drink that is usually non-alcoholic, such as punch or coffee. So you can buy an 'alcoholic drink' on a menu, call a party 'boozy', describe canned cocktails as 'hard', and warn guests that the fruit punch has been 'spiked'.

alcoholic ↗boozyhard ↗spiked ↗

Etymology

ArabicMedieval LatinEnglish

Built in English from 'alcohol' and the adjective ending '-ic'. The base word 'alcohol' came into English through Medieval Latin from Arabic 'al-kuhl', which first named a very fine powder and later came to mean purified spirit. From there, English formed 'alcoholic' for things connected with alcohol, and later for a person affected by dependence on it.