Meanings
- New EnglandidiomaticobsoleteDrunkenness.
Seated at the same table with our Mr.—, was a gentleman, who, to use the current phrase, ‘had a brick in his hat.’
1846 November 28, “Magnelia Pedestria; or, Leaves from a Pedestrian’s Note Book”, in The Yale Literary Magazine, volume 12, number 1, page 331 more example
Her husband had taken to the tavern, and often came home very late, “with a brick in his hat,” as Sally expressed it.
1849, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Kavanagh, pages 177–178Synonyms: drunkenness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounDrunkenness.
Origin
US, circa 1846. Presumably due to staggering walk when drunk; compare top-heavy with drink.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
brick in one's hat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brick%20in%20one's%20hat
“brick in one's hat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brick%20in%20one's%20hat. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brick in one's hat,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brick%20in%20one's%20hat.
Source: brick in one's hat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.