barfly C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈbɑrˌflaɪ/ UK /ˈbɑːflaɪ/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a person who frequently spends time drinking in bars The old barfly knew every regular by their first name. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a person who frequently... drunkardtipplersotsousedrinkerlush ↔ Opposites teetotaler Word family Related forms barfly Etymology AI details An American compound of bar (drinking establishment) and fly (insect), likening the habitual drinker to a fly hovering around a bar; first attested early 20th century. Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # barfly **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈbɑrˌflaɪ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈbɑːflaɪ/ ## Meanings 1. a person who frequently spends time drinking in bars ## Examples - The old barfly knew every regular by their first name. ## Synonyms - drunkard - tippler - sot - souse - drinker - lush ## Antonyms - teetotaler ## Related Forms - bar - fly ## Etymology An American compound of bar (drinking establishment) and fly (insect), likening the habitual drinker to a fly hovering around a bar; first attested early 20th century. ## AI Etymology barfly is an American compound of bar (drinking establishment) and fly (insect), likening the habitual drinker to a fly hovering around a bar; first attested early 20th century. Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "a person who frequently spends time drinking in bars", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as bar, fly, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown