skunked

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of skunk

comparative more skunked · superlative most skunked

1. slangIntoxicated by alcohol or recreational drugs.
2. slangHaving caught no fish at all when on a fishing trip.
3. slangHaving seen no birds at all when on a birding trip.

   It no longer mattered that I had been skunked in the marsh. I had prevailed on the ponds.

   2003, Kenn Kaufman, City Birding: True Tales of Birds and Birdwatching in Unexpected Places, page 47

4. Ruined by poor storage or exposure to light.

   We found some skunked beer in the abandoned cabin, but it was not worth drinking.

5. Transitioning to a new meaning or usage and potentially controversial.

   A word is most hotly disputed in the middle part of this process: any use of it is likely to distract some readers. The new use seems illiterate to Group 1; the old use seems odd to Group 2. The word has become “skunked.”

   2000, Bryan A. Garner, “skunked terms”, in The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, page 306