What does soused mean?
Soused means soaked or drenched with liquid and is especially associated with food preserved in brine, vinegar, or a seasoned marinade, as in soused herring. It can also describe a person who is drunk, although this sense now sounds literary or old-fashioned. The related verb means to immerse something in liquid, soak it, or drench it. For example, a cook might soused fish in brine before smoking it, while a heavy shower can leave a group of walkers thoroughly soused. The word is most useful because it combines ordinary ideas of soaking and immersion with a distinctive culinary meaning and a somewhat vivid description of intoxication. Though not limited to any one English-speaking region, it is encountered more often in British and American English than in varieties where related forms are less familiar.
Soaked or drenched with liquid; immersed in brine or a marinade. In older or literary usage, drunk or intoxicated.
"The preserved fish was served soused in a rich vinegar dressing."
The meaning "drunk" is literary or archaic; the culinary sense is established in both British and American English.
To soak or immerse in liquid; to drench.
"She soused the bread in the batter before frying it."
The past tense and past participle are both soused.
One word can cover a soaking downpour, a well-marinated herring, and a tipsy reveler.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does soused come from?
The word developed in Middle English from the verb souse, meaning to soak, immerse, or drench. Its history is generally traced through Old French to a Latin verb associated with plunging something under water, ultimately related to the Latin root behind submerge. The older sense meaning drunk also developed from the idea of soaking or immersing oneself in alcohol.
Related word forms
How soused is actually used
The adjective is often used predicatively, as in "thoroughly soused." Its sense meaning drunk is literary or archaic, while the culinary sense is familiar in discussions of preserved foods such as soused herring.
Easily confused with soused
Soused means soaked or drenched and can also mean drunk, whereas doused usually means drenched with a liquid, often deliberately.