1
: drunk sense 1
a drunken driver
2
obsolete
: saturated with liquid
3
a
: given to habitual excessive use of alcohol
b
: of, relating to, or characterized by intoxication
… they come from … broken homes, drunken homes …—
P. B. Gilliam
P. B. Gilliam
c
: resulting from or as if from intoxication
a drunken brawl
4
: unsteady or lurching as if from alcoholic intoxication
drunkenly
adverb
Examples of drunken in a Sentence
The streets were filled with drunken revelers on New Year's Eve.
He lives in an apartment with his drunken mother.
He fell into a drunken stupor.
A drunken brawl broke out at the bar.
Recent Examples on the Web
Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Take Jackie, who comes into the ER after a drunken accident.
—Jonathan Hunt-Glassman, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2026
In a two-year span, two Kansas City, Kansas, police sergeants have been arrested for drunken driving.
—Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
In embracing the drunken chaos of the college atmosphere, Rooster seems to finally be finding its legs.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for drunken
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Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Take Jackie, who comes into the ER after a drunken accident.
—Jonathan Hunt-Glassman, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2026
In a two-year span, two Kansas City, Kansas, police sergeants have been arrested for drunken driving.
—Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
In embracing the drunken chaos of the college atmosphere, Rooster seems to finally be finding its legs.
—Erin Qualey, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for drunken
Cite this Entry
“Drunken.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drunken. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
drunken
adjective
drunk·en
ˈdrəŋ-kən 
1
b
: having a habit of drinking too much alcohol
2
a
: resulting from being drunk
a drunken brawl
drunkenly
adverb
Medical Definition
drunken
adjective
drunk·en
ˈdrəŋ-kən
1
: drunk sense 1
a drunken driver
2
a
: given to habitual excessive use of alcohol
b
: of, relating to, or characterized by intoxication
drunken parties
c
: resulting from or as if from intoxication
a drunken stupor
drunkenly
adverb
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