Word.ws English Dictionary

under the influence

under the influence adverb: while intoxicated or inebriated, in any degree from mildly impaired to stupefied, by a mind-altering substance, typically alcohol; thus, especially, drunk.

Adverb

under the influence (comparative more under the influence, superlative most under the influence)

  1. (idiomatic) While intoxicated or inebriated, in any degree from mildly impaired to stupefied, by a mind-altering substance, typically alcohol; thus, especially, drunk.
    • He was arrested for driving under the influence.
    • He was fired for showing up under the influence.

Adjective

under the influence (comparative more under the influence, superlative most under the influence)

  1. (idiomatic) Intoxicated or inebriated, in any degree from mildly impaired to stupefied, by a mind-altering substance, typically alcohol; thus, especially, drunk.
    • He was arrested for driving while under the influence.
    • He was fired for showing up when he was under the influence.

under the influence meaning in Arabic

under the influence in Arabic

intoxicated
تَحْتَ اَلتَّأْثِير taḥta t-taʔṯīr

Forms of under the influence

Adverb
comparativemore under the influence
superlativemost under the influence
Adjective
comparativemore under the influence
superlativemost under the influence

Origin of under the influence

Elliptical, since the agent (any intoxicating substance) is implicit because it is understood in context.

Words formed from under the influence

Questions about under the influence

What does under the influence mean?
Under the influence means while intoxicated or inebriated, in any degree from mildly impaired to stupefied, by a mind-altering substance, typically alcohol; thus, especially, drunk.
What is under the influence in Arabic?
Under the influence in Arabic is تَحْتَ اَلتَّأْثِير (taḥta t-taʔṯīr). See Under the influence meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is under the influence?
Under the influence can be an adverb or an adjective.

Words near under the influence in the dictionary

  1. under the gun
  2. under the hammer
  3. under the hood
  4. under the illusion
  5. under the impression
  6. under the influence
  7. under the jail
  8. under the knife
  9. under the lee
  10. under the loupe
  11. under the magnifying glass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: under the influence (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-under the influence.ogg.

Cite this entry: “under the influence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/under_the_influence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.