Meanings
- datednot comparableslangSlightly drunk, or, possibly in meiosis, very drunk.
Many of my readers will recollect the memorable night, on which William Pitt and his ingenious friend and jovial compotator, Harry Dundas, went into the House of Commons, in a condition usually described by the phrase "of being half seas over."
1830, Richard Warner, “chapter XIII”, in Literary Recollections, volume II, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 6, footnote1 more example
They strutted into the box department at the English Opera House, on the preceding night at half price, and half-seas-over — whether with cape, blackstrap, or blue ruin, did not appear. Two of them were particularly half-seas-over, viz. — Mr. Bob Dodd and Mr. Will. Wood; the other, Mr. Fred. Hughes, was but so so.
1823, anonymous author, The Spirit of the Public Journals for the Year MDCCCXXIIISynonyms: drunk
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveSlightly drunk, or, possibly in meiosis, very drunk.
Cite this entry
half seas over. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20seas%20over
“half seas over.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20seas%20over. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “half seas over,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20seas%20over.
Source: half seas over on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.