drunk as a skunk

adj

"drunk-as-a-skunk" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“drunk as a skunk” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Highly inebriated.

Corpus desk

Index EN-drunk-as-a-skunk · drunk as a skunk · English

drunk as a skunk · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for drunk as a skunk
PropertyValue
Headworddrunk as a skunk
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “drunk as a skunk” in English

drunk as a skunkfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

drunk as a skunk is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Highly inebriated.".

Zero misspellings are on record for drunk as a skunk in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Although skunk might refer to the aroma of some alcoholic beverage, the rhyme seems to have motivated this idiom. The correct English form is drunk as a skunk, spelled D-R-U-N-K- -A-S- -A- -S-K-U-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Highly inebriated.

Etymology

Although skunk might refer to the aroma of some alcoholic beverage, the rhyme seems to have motivated this idiom.

Synonyms

drunk as a cuntdrunk as a fiddlerdrunk as a fiddler's bitchdrunk as a lorddrunk as a piperdrunk as a sowdrunk as a wheelbarrowdrunk as an owldrunk as Chloedrunk as David's sowfull as a googpissed as a fartpissed as a newttight as a tickdrunk

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "drunk as a skunk"?
"drunk as a skunk" is spelled D-R-U-N-K- -A-S- -A- -S-K-U-N-K.
What does "drunk as a skunk" mean?
As an adjective, "drunk as a skunk" means: Highly inebriated.
What is the origin of the word "drunk as a skunk"?
Although skunk might refer to the aroma of some alcoholic beverage, the rhyme seems to have motivated this idiom. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list