What does crapulent mean?
Crapulent is a rare adjective describing someone who is sickened by — or habitually prone to — excessive eating and drinking. It can describe both the immediate aftermath of overindulgence, as when a guest leaves a banquet feeling bloated and queasy, and a more general disposition toward gluttony. The word derives from the Latin "crapula," itself borrowed from Greek "kraipalē," which meant the headache and nausea that followed a night of heavy drinking — essentially the classical world's term for a hangover. Because of this lineage, "crapulent" carries a faintly moralizing tone: it suggests not mere fullness but a failure of self-restraint. It appears chiefly in formal or literary writing and is often confused with its close relative "crapulous," the noun denoting the resulting sickness itself. Antonyms include "abstemious" and "temperate." For readers who enjoy precise vocabulary for human frailty, it offers an elegant, if unflattering, label for one of civilization's oldest vices.
adjectiveSuffering from or given to excessive eating or drinking; marked by gluttony or drunken overindulgence.
- Of a person: suffering from or sickened by excessive eating or drinking.
- Of a person: habitually or characteristically given to gluttony or drunken excess.
"After the holiday feast, he lay crapulent on the sofa, unable to move."
"He woke feeling thoroughly crapulent after the wedding banquet."
"A crapulent appetite for rich food eventually took its toll on his health."
The ancient Greeks had a specific word for the misery of the morning after a feast — and "crapulent" is its direct English descendant.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crapulent
Crapulent comes from Latin "crapulosus" or "crapulentus," derived from "crapula," meaning intoxication or the sickness caused by drinking to excess. The Latin word was in turn borrowed from Greek "kraipalē," which specifically denoted the headache and nausea following a drinking bout. The word entered English in the early modern period, around the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, alongside related forms such as "crapulous" and "crapulence." Its cognates are few, but its Greek root also underlies related medical terms for hangover-like states.
Related word forms
How crapulent is actually used
A rare, formal, literary word with strongly negative connotations; it carries a faintly archaic, moralizing flavor inherited from classical usage.
Easily confused with crapulent
"Crapulent" describes a person given to or suffering from gross overindulgence, while "crapulous" (the noun form) refers to the sickness or hangover caused by such excess.
"Corpulent" means fat or obese in body, whereas "crapulent" concerns overindulgence in eating or drinking rather than body size.