What does quaffed mean?
Quaffed means that someone has drunk a beverage deeply, quickly, or with conspicuous enthusiasm. The word is especially associated with beer, wine, spirits, and other drinks, and it often creates an image of a person emptying a glass with vigorous approval. Although it can be used neutrally to describe drinking, its comic or slightly old-fashioned flavor frequently implies that the drinking is hearty, uninhibited, or excessive. The past-tense form is common in storytelling and informal description: one might say that guests quaffed champagne at a celebration, or that a character spent the evening quaffed in a tavern. Quaff is more forceful than simply drank or consumed, making it useful when the manner or scale of the drinking matters.
verbTo drink something, especially alcohol, deeply or quickly. As the past tense and past participle of quaff, it can also describe having consumed a drink in this way.
- To drink deeply or quickly, especially a beverage such as beer, wine, or spirits.
- Used as a past participle or adjective to describe someone who has drunk heartily.
"After the ceremony, they quaffed champagne and toasted the newlyweds."
"The adventurers quaffed rum by the barrel as the storm raged outside."
"He emerged from the tavern flushed and boisterous, having quaffed every drink in sight."
Quaffed is the word to reach for when someone empties a glass with more enthusiasm than elegance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does quaffed come from?
The word comes from the English verb quaff, which was borrowed during the early modern period from German quaffeln, meaning “to drink” or “to gulp down.” The English verb developed its modern sense of drinking deeply or quickly, often in the context of alcohol. Quaffed is simply the regular past-tense and past-participle form of that inherited verb.
Related word forms
How quaffed is actually used
The word is somewhat literary or deliberately comic in tone. It often conveys drinking a large quantity quickly and enthusiastically, and can suggest excess. In standard usage it is usually the past tense or past participle of quaff.