wino

noun \ ˈwī-(ˌ)nō \

|Updated on: 17 May 2018

Definition of wino

plural winos

: a usually indigent alcoholic who is addicted especially to wine

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Recent Examples of wino from the Web

This weekend is jam-packed with festivals—beer freaks, winos, music lovers and craft geeks will all have something to do.

— shelbie lynn bostedt, RedEye Chicago, "Chicago festivals this weekend: Windy City Wine Festival, Oktoberfest, Renegade Craft Fair," 8 Sep. 2017
Impassioned winos relish moments of bonhomie

— mark oldman, Bloomberg.com, "Why It’s So Hard to Tell If a $100,000 Bottle of Wine Is Fake," 6 Sep. 2017
Relative to the brand's product offering, this is just a small sampling, so hopefully there will be a complete collection for winos in stores soon!

— jessica mattern, Woman's Day, "Wine Lovers Rejoice! Bath and Body Works Just Released New Wine-Inspired Scents," 31 Aug. 2017
Tyrion Lannister: Remember when Tyrion was a womanizing wino?

— allison p. davis, The Cut, "Who Is the Biggest Fuccboi on Game of Thrones?," 30 July 2017
Sounds like a pretty great way to get active on vacation, while also indulging your inner wino.

— avery matera, SELF, "This Underwater Winery Takes the Mermaid Trend to the Next Level," 19 July 2017
I got acquainted with the local winos, and some of them were nice guys.

— karen schoemer, New York Times, "In California, Finding ‘Fat City’ With the Man Who Wrote It," 30 May 2017
Even his midlife crises like About Schmidt and Sideways were filled with cranks, winos and idiot savants.

— scott thill, WIRED, "Daniel Clowes’ Comic Wilson Worms Toward Hollywood," 20 Nov. 2010

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

First Known Use of wino

circa 1915

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Alcoholic Beverage Terms

finish, gimlet, mull, sake, setup, sommelier, syllabub, vintner, wassail

WINO Defined for English Language Learners

wino

noun

Definition of wino for English Language Learners

: a person who has no place to live and who is often drunk

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See words that rhyme with wino Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about wino

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