alcoholic

B1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk/ UK /ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/ See IPA manual

adj noun Freq #6330

Meanings

1

adj
Containing alcohol.

He ordered an alcoholic drink at the bar.
2

noun
A person who cannot stop drinking too much alcohol.

After years of drinking, he admitted he was an alcoholic.
3

adj
Addicted to or affected by heavy drinking.

She finally sought help for her alcoholic husband.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 adj · addicted to or affected by... alcohol-dependent

More distilled fermented inebriateintoxicatingspirituous

Opposites

alcohol-freenonalcoholic teetotaler virgin

Word family

Forms alcoholics

Derived forms alcoholically alcoholicityaminoalcoholicanti-alcoholicantialcoholichydroalcoholicnon-alcoholicnonalcoholicprealcoholicunalcoholicworkalcoholic

Related forms alcohol drunk drunkard drunkenness

Etymology

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English alcoholic First attested 1891, from alcohol + -ic.

Topics

People & Society

# alcoholic

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk
**IPA (UK):** ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk
**Frequency rank:** 6330

## Meanings
1. Containing alcohol.
2. A person who cannot stop drinking too much alcohol.
3. Addicted to or affected by heavy drinking.

## Examples
- He ordered an alcoholic drink at the bar.
- After years of drinking, he admitted he was an alcoholic.
- She finally sought help for her alcoholic husband.

## Synonyms
- distilled
- fermented
- inebriate
- intoxicating
- spirituous

## Antonyms
- alcohol-free
- nonalcoholic
- teetotaler
- virgin

## Derived Forms
- alcoholically
- alcoholicity
- aminoalcoholic
- anti-alcoholic
- antialcoholic
- hydroalcoholic
- non-alcoholic
- nonalcoholic
- prealcoholic
- unalcoholic
- workalcoholic

## Related Forms
- alcohol
- drunk
- drunkard
- drunkenness

## Etymology
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English alcoholic First attested 1891, from alcohol + -ic.

## AI Etymology
Alcoholic is first attested 1891, from alcohol plus -ic. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as an adjective and a noun, alcoholic denotes containing alcohol, a person who cannot stop drinking too much alcohol, and addicted to or affected by heavy drinking. The same word family continues in derived forms such as alcoholically, alcoholicity, aminoalcoholic, and anti-alcoholic and related entries such as alcohol, drunk, drunkard, and drunkenness.

## Topics
- People & Society

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