cheap drunk
1
8.6
- noun
- /tʃiːp drʌŋk/
- Informal
:
borracho ligero
- I have to warn you, I'm a cheap drunk.
Examples
-
Now I was just a cheap drunk, an ex-hack wearing Salvation Army shoes.
Fiction book (1992) -
Being a cheap drunk means you can get drunk quickly, so he always reminded himself to pace his drinks.
-
After just a couple of beers, he became a cheap drunk, slurring his words and laughing too loudly.
-
She admitted that she was a cheap drunk, feeling tipsy after only one glass of wine at dinner.
Antonyms
How Easily Drunk
- NSFW
1
5.8
- Informal
1
8.6
83
1.8
2
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The intended meaning (‘becomes intoxicated after a small amount’) is inferable by extending 'cheap' (low cost/low amount) to the context of alcohol, but this requires a metaphorical leap and competes with another plausible reading ('a stingy/drink‑skimping person') given the common sense of 'cheap'. Because the relation is partly compositional but not directly predictable from the constituents without prior exposure, it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Cheap drunk comes from the idea that it is cheap to make someone drunk, meaning they become 'drunk' after only a small amount of alcohol. So the phrase means 'a person who gets drunk after just a little drink'.