Interesting words: Bibulous
Published in
1 min readMay 10, 2019
Definition
Bibulous is an adjective that, according to Merriam Webster, means:
1 : highly absorbent
2 a : fond of alcoholic beverages
b : of, relating to, or marked by the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
I admit to never having seen the first usage, it seems to mainly be used in medical literature.
Etymology
It’s been used in English for quite a while; according to the Online Etymology Dictionary it was first used in the 1670s and comes from Latin bibulous meaning “drinking readily”.
Usage
Why use it? It sounds so much nicer than “drunk’’ and is more specific in its meaning, as well.
Example use: It is widely reported that Christopher Hitchens was bibulous.
Frequency
1 in about 24,000,000 words per Ngram viewer.
