tip ‧ sy /ˈtɪpsi/ BrE AmE adjective informal
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ tip 2 (2) ]
slightly drunk
—tipsily adverb
—tipsiness noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ drunk [not usually before noun] having drunk too much alcohol so that your behaviour and mental processes are affected:
Gary was too drunk to remember what had happened that night.
|
I just hope they don’t get drunk and start fighting.
|
drunk driving
|
The police are going to crack down on drunk drivers.
▪ tipsy/merry [not before noun] slightly drunk:
After the second glass of wine I was feeling a little tipsy.
▪ pissed [not usually before noun] British English informal drunk – this word is very common in spoken British English, but it is not polite:
Don’t listen to him – he’s pissed.
▪ intoxicated [not before noun] formal drunk:
He was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
▪ paralytic/legless [not before noun] British English informal extremely drunk:
Don’t give Dave any more to drink -- he’s already legless.
|
They became totally paralytic and abusive.
▪ drunken [only before noun] especially written used to describe someone who is drunk or their behaviour. Drunken is mainly used in written English and is always used before a noun. Don’t say ‘he is drunken’. Say he is drunk :
A drunken man was found lying outside a shop door.
|
We found him lying by the roadside in a drunken stupor (=almost unconscious as a result of being drunk) .