Meanings
plural inebriates
- 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 HomeSynonyms: drunkard
present singular third person inebriates · participle present inebriating · participle past inebriated · past inebriated
- transitiveTo cause to be drunk; to intoxicate.
- figurativelytransitiveTo disorder the senses of; to exhilarate, elate or stupefy as if by spirituous drink.
the inebriating effect of popular applause
1841, Thomas Macaulay, Comic Dramatists of the Restoration (printed in Edinburgh Review, January 1841) - intransitiveTo 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 hand
1627 (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 by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC
comparative more inebriate · superlative most inebriate
- intoxicated; drunk
At 30 he was inebriate, with a drink period of twelve or fifteen days.
1894, Norman Kerr, Inebriety; Or, Narcomania;, page 6082 more examples
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 than in New South Wales during the same periods.
1894, Victorian Year-book - Volume 20, Part 2, page 355Karim found Sudhir disgusting when he was inebriate, as he was totally unpredictable and thoroughly inappropriate, albeit abusive and condescending; truly a rear-end of a donkey.
2019, Onaly A. Kapasi, Tectonic DyssynchronySynonyms: drunk
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who is intoxicated, especially one who is habitually drunk.
adjectiveintoxicated; drunk
More synonyms by meaning
verbfill with sublime emotion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininēbriō, inēbriāre
- Englishinebriate
From Latin inēbriō, inēbriāre, from ēbrius (“drunk”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian пияница, напивам
- пияница (pijanica)habitually drunk
- напивам (napivam)to cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- напивам се (napivam se)to become drunk
- опиянявам (opijanjavam)fill with sublime emotion
Czech opilec, opít
- opilechabitually drunk
- opítto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- opít seto become drunk
Dutch zich bezatten, zich bedrinken
- zich bezattento become drunk
- zich bedrinkento become drunk
French ivrogne, saouler
- ivrognehabitually drunk
- saoulerto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- soûlerto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- soulerto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- enivrerto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- se saoulerto become drunk
- se soûlerto become drunk
- se soulerto become drunk
- s'enivrerto become drunk
- se bourrerto become drunk
- enivrerfill with sublime emotion
German Trinker, Alkoholiker
- Trinkerhabitually drunk
- Alkoholikerhabitually drunk
- Betrunkenerhabitually drunk
- Trunksüchtigerhabitually drunk
- betrunken machento cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- Trunkenheit verursachento cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- berauschento cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- betrunken werdento become drunk
- sich betrinkento become drunk
- berauschenfill with sublime emotion
- berauschtintoxicated, drunk
Korean 잔뜩 취하다, 곤드레만드레 취하다
- 잔뜩 취하다 (jantteuk chwihada)fill with sublime emotion
- 곤드레만드레 취하다 (gondeuremandeure chwihada)fill with sublime emotion
Portuguese embriagar, embriagar-se
- embriagarto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- embriagar-seto become drunk
Russian опьянять, напиваться
- опьянять (opʹjanjatʹ)to cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- напиваться (napivatʹsja)to become drunk
Spanish embriagar, inebriar
- embriagarto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- inebriarto cause to be drunk; to intoxicate
- inebriarseto become drunk
- embriagarseto become drunk
Cite this entry
inebriate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inebriate
“inebriate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inebriate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “inebriate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/inebriate.
Source: inebriate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.