dipsomaniac

English

Etymology

From dipso- +‎ -maniac.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪp.sə(ʊ)ˈmeɪn.i.æk/
• Rhymes: -eɪniæk

Noun

dipsomaniac (plural dipsomaniacs)

1. One with a morbid paroxysmal craving for alcohol; an alcoholic.
   • 1909, G. K. Chesterton, “The Progressive”, in George Bernard Shaw‎^[1], New York: John Lane, page 54:

     The dipsomaniac and the abstainer are not only both mistaken, but they both make the same mistake. They both regard wine as a drug and not as a drink.

   • 1956, James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room, Penguin, published 2001, Part Two, Chapter 2:

     The Spaniards are nice, but, of course, most of them are terribly poor, the ones who aren’t are impossible, I don’t like the tourists, mainly English and American dipsomaniacs, paid, my dear, by their families to stay away.

2. A persistently drunken person; a drunkard.

Synonyms

• (drunkard): alcoholic, dipso, drunkard, lush, sot; See also Thesaurus:drunkard

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “drunkard”): abstainer, teetotaler; See also Thesaurus:teetotaler

Related terms

• dipsomania
• dipsomaniacal

Translations

An alcoholic

• Esperanto: dipsomaniulo
• Finnish: alkoholisti (fi), juoppo (fi), dipsomaani
• Greek: διψομανής (el) c (dipsomanís)
• Hungarian: alkoholista (hu)
• Italian: dipsomane m or f
• Spanish: dipsómano (es) m, dipsómana (es) f
• Turkish: içkici (tr), ayyaş (tr)