alcoholic

al·co·hol·ic | \ ˌal-kə-ˈhȯ-lik

How to pronounce alcoholic (audio)

, -ˈhä- \

Definition of alcoholic

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of, relating to, or caused by alcohol an alcoholic odor

b : containing alcohol an alcoholic beverage

2 : affected with alcoholism

alcoholic

Definition of alcoholic (Entry 2 of 2)

: a person affected with alcoholism

Other Words from alcoholic Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about alcoholic

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Examples of alcoholic in a Sentence

Adjective a slightly more alcoholic wine She has an alcoholic uncle. Noun Her uncle is an alcoholic. one can be a social drinker without turning into an alcoholic

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Officers report the suspect, who smelled of an alcoholic beverage, had been going to houses in the neighborhood looking for a homeowners association official. — Bruce Geiselman, cleveland, "Alcohol blamed in one-car crash: North Olmsted Police Blotter," 23 May 2020 Under the state’s temporary coronavirus rules, bars and restaurants are allowed to serve alcoholic beverages for takeout. — Steve Rubenstein, SFChronicle.com, "Social distancing on Chestnut Street — what’s that?," 16 May 2020 Distell has accepted that bars are not going to open for large social gatherings for some time, so demand for alcoholic beverages will remain relatively low. — Janice Kew, Bloomberg.com, "South Africa Drink Makers Puzzle on How to Ease Alcohol Ban," 15 May 2020 Drizly, an alcoholic beverage delivery company, has seen an explosive 1,600 percent growth in year-over-year new customers at the end of March. — al, "Alabama’s craft breweries push for home deliveries during ‘stay-at-home’ order," 11 Apr. 2020 Sales of White Claw, owned by alcoholic beverage company Mark Anthony Brands, will surpass $1.5 billion this year, according to Sanjiv Gajiwala, the company's senior vice president of marketing. — Kerry Flynn, CNN, "White Claw projects $1.5 billion in sales this year," 20 Nov. 2019 And while wine remains the core focus, Living Roots collaborates with other local alcoholic beverage companies to generate buzz. — John Kell, Fortune, "How Millennials’ Wine Preferences Differ From Boomers," 29 June 2019 Five of the world’s largest alcoholic beverage companies, namely Anheuser-Busch InBev, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Heineken, and Carlsberg, subsequently agreed to pitch in $67.7 million for the study. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "NIH shuts down controversial $100M drinking study backed by Big Alcohol," 15 June 2018 The paper, led by researchers at New York University, focused on sports sponsorships — the money food and non-alcoholic beverage companies pay teams to use their logos, brands, and products in sports venues and advertisements. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "How sports leagues like the NFL are fanning the childhood obesity epidemic," 27 Mar. 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The former is an alcoholic and, when Danler was in college, became disabled because of a brain aneurysm. — Annabel Gutterman, Time, "The Author of Sweetbitter Returns With a Gritty Memoir of Self-Destruction," 20 May 2020 Anthony is an alcoholic who has been in recovery for seven years. — Cnn Staff, CNN, "Addiction in Isolation: Dr. Sanjay Gupta's coronavirus podcast transcript for April 21," 21 Apr. 2020 Like many recovered alcoholics in San Antonio, Castro has found his favorite meeting online via the Zoom app. — Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, ExpressNews.com, "To stay sober during the coronavirus pandemic, members of 12-Step groups move online," 3 Apr. 2020 As a group, it’s been noted, alcoholics are often over-achievers. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Face-to-face meetings are off for now, but the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous continues on Zoom and other platforms," 3 Apr. 2020 Terry Catucci is a 69-year-old retired social worker and recovering alcoholic of 30 years in Maryland. — Lindsay Whitehurst, USA TODAY, "In a crisis 'you want to be with people you love, and we can't.' Grandparenting goes digital.," 31 Mar. 2020 Adam Bock’s drama, directed by Trip Cullman for the Williamstown Theater Festival, set you up to expect nothing but naturalism from a handful of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts preparing coffee for their 12-step meetings. — Ben Brantley, New York Times, "Best Theater of 2019," 3 Dec. 2019 Trinity bought a five-bedroom house at 111 N. Grant St. in June, where recovering alcoholics and addicts could live and receive services for their recovery, including peer support and life skills training. — Kimberly Fornek, chicagotribune.com, "Sober living home files federal discrimination complaint against Hinsdale," 26 Nov. 2019 This is a quiet drama about a lonely alcoholic who gets a lifeline when he’s asked to coach a high school basketball team. — Lindsey Bahr, Detroit Free Press, "Ben Affleck is moving, but ‘The Way Back’ is just ordinary," 5 Mar. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alcoholic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Learn More about alcoholic

Dictionary Entries near alcoholic

alcohol by volume

alcohol of crystallization

Statistics for alcoholic

Last Updated

29 May 2020

Cite this Entry

“Alcoholic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alcoholic. Accessed 3 Jun. 2020.

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More Definitions for alcoholic

alcoholic

noun

English Language Learners Definition of alcoholic

: a person who frequently drinks too much alcohol and is unable to live a normal and healthy life : a person who is affected with alcoholism

See the full definition for alcoholic in the English Language Learners Dictionary

alcoholic

al·co·hol·ic | \ ˌal-kə-ˈhȯ-lik

, -ˈhä- \

Kids Definition of alcoholic

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : of, relating to, or containing alcohol alcoholic drinks

2 : affected with alcoholism

alcoholic

Kids Definition of alcoholic (Entry 2 of 2)

: a person affected with alcoholism

alcoholic

al·co·hol·ic | \ ˌal-kə-ˈhȯl-ik, -ˈhäl-

\

Medical Definition of alcoholic

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : of, relating to, or caused by alcohol alcoholic hepatitis

b : containing alcohol

2 : affected with alcoholism

alcoholic

Medical Definition of alcoholic (Entry 2 of 2)

: one affected with alcoholism

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