What does wino mean?
Wino is chiefly a North American informal noun for a habitual alcoholic, especially someone regarded as drinking too much wine. Although it may at first suggest only a wine drinker, its dominant modern sense is strongly derogatory and can be offensive; it is not a neutral substitute for “alcoholic.” The word also has a dated earlier sense meaning simply “a wine drinker,” which survives mainly in historical discussion. In current use, “wino” tends to appear in narrative portrayals of street drinking, poverty, or homelessness and may carry particularly offensive implications when Native Americans are stereotyped as alcoholics. Its harshness and specificity make it unsuitable for ordinary clinical, legal, or respectful description of a person with alcohol-use disorder. The term derives from Spanish vino, “wine,” itself from Latin vinum. Once borrowed into English in the early nineteenth century, it gradually shifted from its literal sense to a contemptuous label for an alcoholic. Today it is chiefly a literary or colloquial term rather than neutral vocabulary.
nounA habitual alcoholic, especially someone regarded as drinking too much wine. The term is now generally derogatory and often offensive.
- A habitual alcoholic, especially someone regarded as drinking too much wine; derogatory and often offensive.
- A person who drinks wine; a dated, formerly more neutral sense.
"The novel portrays the old wino as both comic and tragic."
"He refused the stereotype of the skid-row wino."
"The lecture noted that the term had once meant simply “a wine drinker.”"
The plural is winos and should be used with the same derogatory caution as the singular.
"The novel refers to several winos living in the railway arches."
Spanish vino once simply meant “wine”; in English, the word narrowed into a derogatory label for a habitual drinker.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does wino come from?
Wino comes from Spanish vino, meaning “wine,” which was borrowed into English in the early nineteenth century. The word initially meant a wine drinker but developed into a contemptuous term for an alcoholic. Spanish vino ultimately derives from Latin vinum, also the source of English wine and cognates in several other European languages.
How wino is actually used
This is an informal, strongly derogatory term and is often offensive. It is especially offensive when used to stereotype Native Americans as alcoholics. The older, literal sense “wine drinker” is now dated.
Easily confused with wino
Whino is an alternate spelling of wino in the derogatory noun sense; it does not denote a different kind of drinker.
Vino means wine itself, whereas wino is a person, usually portrayed derogatorily as a habitual alcoholic.