1
: drunk sense 1
a drunken driver
2
obsolete
: saturated with liquid
3
a
: given to habitual excessive use of alcohol
b
: of, relating to, or characterized by intoxication
… they come from … broken homes, drunken homes …—P. B. Gilliam
c
: resulting from or as if from intoxication
a drunken brawl
4
: unsteady or lurching as if from alcoholic intoxication
drunkenly
adverb
drunk·en·ness
-kən(n)ə̇s
plural -es
1
: the condition of being drunk with or as if with alcohol : intoxication
2
3
: mental or emotional extravagance suggestive of the disorders caused by alcohol
the drunkenness of factious animosity—T. B. Macaulay
Cite this Entry
“Drunken.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drunken. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.
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