What does boozed mean?
Boozed is the past tense and past participle of the informal verb "to booze," meaning to drink alcohol, particularly heavily or habitually. When someone says they boozed all weekend, they mean they drank freely and probably to excess; the tone is casual and conversational rather than formal. The word most often appears in the fixed expression "boozed up," which functions adjectivally to describe someone who is drunk — as in "he turned up boozed up at the party." Because of its slangy register, "boozed" suits fiction, journalism about nightlife, and everyday speech far better than official or medical contexts, where terms like "intoxicated" are preferred. The underlying noun "booze" has a colourful history, tracing back through Middle Dutch to a family of old European drinking words, and it has carried a connotation of hard, unapologetic drinking since it entered English in the early modern period.
Past tense and past participle of "booze": drank alcohol, especially heavily.
"He boozed steadily throughout the long afternoon."
Informal register.
(In "boozed up") intoxicated from drinking alcohol.
"She arrived at the wedding already boozed up."
Almost exclusively occurs in the fixed phrase "boozed up".
"Booze" likely came from a medieval Dutch verb for drinking heavily — and briefly appeared in an 1834 temperance-era glossary of American slang before becoming one of English's most enduring words for alcohol.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of boozed
"Booze" entered English by the late sixteenth century, borrowed from Middle Dutch "būsen" (modern Dutch "buizen"), meaning to drink heavily. The noun "booze" followed shortly afterwards, and the verb's inflected forms such as "boozed" have been in continuous informal use since. The word belongs to a small Germanic family of drinking terms, with "boozer" and "boozy" developing as natural derivatives within English itself.
Related word forms
How boozed is actually used
"Boozed" is informal and slightly colloquial; in formal writing, "drank heavily" or "consumed alcohol" is preferred. The participial form is common in the fixed phrase "boozed up," meaning intoxicated.
Easily confused with boozed
"Boosted" means raised, increased, or given a lift, while "boozed" refers to drinking alcohol.