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Glite Dictionary
liquid courage

liquid courage

3 7.9
Bravery you get from drinking alcohol
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : valor líquido
  • A little liquid courage helped him approach the crowd at the party.
  • a little liquid courage

So she goes up to talk to Apollo, sips a little liquid courage beforehand, gives him a kiss.

Examples

  • She drank some liquid courage before giving her speech to feel more confident.

  • - I got some liquid courage for our journey.

    Undergrads (2022)

  • We thought it would give us liquid courage, but we actually have never done it.

    One of Them Days (2025)

  • Let's just get some liquid courage into you.

    Fat Camp (2017)

  • Alcohol is supposed to loosen you up a bit; some people need that liquid courage, but for you, lay off.

    Blog text (11)

  • Many young people drink to get the "liquid courage" to be able to socialize more at parties at their local Louisville homes.

    Blog text (5)

  • So she goes up to talk to Apollo, sips a little liquid courage beforehand, gives him a kiss.

    cari can read

  • The champagne had given her what Mark called liquid courage to do her horrifyingly awful imitation of Charlie.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • If you don't know how to dance, that's fine, just do you, but please don't let that liquid courage get to you.

    Blog text (11)

  • Sometimes, a shot of liquid courage is all you need to start dancing at the club.

Synonyms

Dutch courage
vsliquid courage
  • Informal
1 8.4

Temporary confidence people feel after drinking alcohol

is general confidence gained through consuming alcohol rather than only bold acts

How Brave

heroism
57 4.2
bravery
104 2.3
liquid courage
  • Informal
3 7.9
timidity
7 5.8
cowardice
46 5.5

Surface Forms

liquid courage singular
liquid courages plural

Morphology

liquid + courage

The compound literally combines 'liquid' (a fluid) and 'courage' (bravery), so the idea of 'bravery coming from a liquid' is metaphorically accessible and many learners could infer it refers to drinking-related confidence. However, understanding that this specifically means confidence gained from alcohol (an idiomatic, culturally grounded inference) requires extra world knowledge, so the relation is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Liquid courage comes from the simple image that a drink can give you bravery. Liquid means a drink and courage means bravery, so having a drink can give someone the 'confidence' to do something they are nervous about.