expensive drunk
- noun
- Offensive
- Her friends were concerned because she had become an expensive drunk who always bought the most expensive cocktails.
Examples
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Being an expensive drunk can quickly drain your savings if you're not careful.
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After the promotion, he became notorious at the bar as an expensive drunk who never ordered the house wine.
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Don't be such an expensive drunk at the bar!
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That guy is an expensive drunk!
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He gained a reputation as an expensive drunk, often spending all his money on premium liquor at the club.
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Her lifestyle as an expensive drunk worried her friends, especially since she frequently bought rounds of drinks for everyone.
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It’s hard to keep up with an expensive drunk like Mike, who insists on ordering the highest-priced drinks on the menu.
How Wasteful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'expensive' retains its literal meaning of 'costing a lot' and 'drunk' is a straightforward noun for a habitual drinker; together they form a regular adjective + noun combination meaning a drinker who causes high expense. This compositional pattern follows normal English grammar and is easily inferable by a B1 learner who knows both words, so the MWE is transparent.
Etymology
Expensive drunk comes from a simple picture: someone who is drunk and always orders the most expensive drinks at a bar, costing a lot of money. So, it means 'a person who drinks too much and spends a lot on alcohol'.