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PlainSpell

drunken

drunk·en/ˈdɹʌŋkən/adjective, verb

drunken is spelled D-R-U-N-K-E-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables (drunk·en). It appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, drunken means “Drunk, in the state of intoxication after having drunk an alcoholic beverage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in drunken?

Letters7: D-R-U-N-K-E-N
Syllables2: drunk·en
In writing4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is drunken?

Drunken appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce drunken?

  • /ˈdɹʌŋkən/

Drunken has 2 syllables, split drunk·en in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-drunken.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of drunken

  • more drunken comparative
  • most drunken superlative
  • drunkens present, singular, he/she/it
  • drunkening participle, present
  • drunkened participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does drunken mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Drunk, in the state of intoxication after having drunk an alcoholic beverage.

    What shall we do with a drunken sailor? […] / Put him in the longboat and make him bail her / Early in the morning.

  2. 2

    derogatoryGiven to habitual excessive use of alcohol.

  3. 3

    Characterized by or resulting from drunkenness.

    a drunken display of crude exuberance

  4. 4

    obsoleteSaturated with liquid.

  5. 5

    obsoleteApplied to various spicy stir-fried dishes in Asian cuisine.

    drunken noodles; drunken duck; drunken fried rice

verb

  1. 1

    To make or become drunk or drunken; to intoxicate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Drunken in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchivre, saoul (In the state of alcoholic intoxication)
Germanbetrunken, trunken (In the state of alcoholic intoxication)
Portuguesebêbado (In the state of alcoholic intoxication)
Spanishborracho, ebrio, escabio, escabiado (In the state of alcoholic intoxication), escabiador (given to habitual excessive use of alcohol), emborrachar ((ambitransitive) To make or become drunk or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does drunken come from?

From Middle English drunken, ydronken, idrunken, from Old English druncen, ġedruncen (“drunk; drunken”), from Proto-Germanic *drunkanaz (“drunken”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *drinkaną (“to drink”), equivalent to drink + -en. Cognate with West Frisian dronken (“drunk; drunken”), Dutch dronken (“drunk; drunken”), German betrunken (“drunk; drunken”), Swedish drucken (“drunk; drunken”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after drunken