inebriate

Noun

inebriate (plural inebriates)

1. A person who is intoxicated, especially one who is habitually drunk.
   • As he walked along, the inebriate, whose gait was at first unsteady, recovered his equilibrium and required less help.1889, Horatio Alger, chapter 18, in Driven From Home

   Synonyms:

   drunkard

Verb

IPA/ɪˈniːbɹieɪt/

inebriate (third-person singular simple present inebriates, present participle inebriating, simple past and past participle inebriated)

1. (transitive) To cause to be drunk; to intoxicate.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To disorder the senses of; to exhilarate, elate or stupefy as if by spirituous drink.
   • the inebriating effect of popular applause1841, Thomas Macaulay, Comic Dramatists of the Restoration (printed in Edinburgh Review, January 1841)
3. (intransitive) To become drunk.
   • fish that come from the Euxine Sea ; that when they come into the fresh water , do inebriate and turn up their bellies , so as you may take them with your hand1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...

Adjective

inebriate (comparative more inebriate, superlative most inebriate)

1. intoxicated; drunk
   • Victoria, on the other hand, has apparently become more inebriate, as, according to the figures, arrests for drunkenness within her boundaries, in proportion to the population, increased from 12 per 1,000 in 1880 to 16½ in 1890 and nearly 16 in 1891; but even the latter proportions were still lower...1894, Victorian Year-book - Volume 20, Part 2, page 355
   • At 30 he was inebriate, with a drink period of twelve or fifteen days.1894, Norman Kerr, Inebriety; Or, Narcomania;, page 608

   Synonyms:

   drunk