drunken

drunken — adjective

1. describes a person who has drunk too much alcohol, either at a particular time o

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describes a person who has drunk too much alcohol, either at a particular time or as a regular habit

Example

The drunken sailor at the harbour could not remember which ship was his.

attributive use: drunken + person noun

Putri's uncle was a drunken man who spent most of his wages on whisky.

Common collocations
  • drunken sailor
  • drunken man
  • drunken driver
  • drunken guest
  • drunken customer
Synonyms
  • drunk

    more common and neutral; can be used both before nouns and after 'be'

  • intoxicated

    formal or medical term, often used in official contexts like police reports

  • inebriated

    humorous or euphemistic; less direct than 'drunk'

Antonyms
  • sober

    not affected by alcohol

Grammar Patterns

drunken + noun (person: sailor, man, driver, guest)

Usage Note

Unlike 'drunk', which can go after a verb like 'be' ('He was drunk'), 'drunken' is used only before the noun it describes ('a drunken sailor', NOT 'the sailor was drunken').

Common Mistakes

He was drunken after the party.
He was drunk after the party.
'drunken' cannot follow 'be'; use 'drunk' in predicative position.

2. relating to an event, action, or situation that happens when people have drunk t

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to an event, action, or situation that happens when people have drunk too much alcohol

Example

A drunken argument at the bar made the manager call the police.

drunken + noun describing an event

Ishaan regretted the drunken message he sent to his boss that night.

Common collocations
  • drunken argument
  • drunken fight
  • drunken decision
  • drunken singing
  • drunken phone call
Synonyms
  • alcohol-fuelled

    emphasises that alcohol caused the event; used in news reports

  • intoxicated

    more formal; can describe events ('intoxicated behaviour') but less common

Grammar Patterns

drunken + noun (event/action: argument, decision, singing, fight)

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Drunk' is the most common and neutral word, used both before a noun ('a drunk driver') and after the verb 'be' ('He was drunk'). 'Drunken' is less common, more formal or literary, and appears only before nouns ('a drunken sailor'). 'Intoxicated' is a formal or medical term, often used in official contexts such as police reports or hospital records ('driving while intoxicated'). 'Inebriated' is a humorous or euphemistic alternative, and 'soused' is informal slang. A key difference: you can say 'He was drunk' but NEVER 'He was drunken' — use 'drunken' only in attributive position, as in 'a drunken guest' or 'drunken behaviour'.

drunk ↗intoxicatedinebriatedsoused

Common collocations

Nouns

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

Comes from Old English 'druncen', the past participle of 'drincan' (meaning 'to drink'). The '-en' ending originally turned the verb into an adjective describing a state resulting from the action — so 'drunken' literally meant 'having drunk'. Over time the meaning narrowed to 'having drunk too much alcohol'. This is the same pattern seen in other old past-participle adjectives like 'sunken' (from 'sink') and 'shrunken' (from 'shrink').