in one's cups
- idiom
- Archaic
:
ebrio
- At the party, she was in her cups and began to share funny stories from her past.
Examples
-
While in his cups, the fellow was somewhat indiscreet.
-
After a few drinks, he was clearly in his cups and started singing loudly.
-
You should avoid driving if you are in your cups after that last round of drinks.
Synonyms
168
2.8
Having too much alcohol in the body and behaving loudly or strangely
56
3.0
Feeling a very strong emotion that makes you excited or unable to think clearly
46
5.8
Not able to do daily tasks safely because of alcohol or drugs
44
4.2
Unable to control your actions because of alcohol or drugs
18
4.8
A little drunk after drinking a small amount of alcohol
8
6.5
To be very drunk after drinking too much alcohol
4
8.9
Too much alcohol makes a person very unsteady and unable to think clearly
3
7.9
So affected by alcohol that you are not aware of what you do or where you are
1
9.9
A person who is very drunk and cannot find their way home
1
8.4
Very drunk from drinking alcohol
1
9.9
Very drunk and unable to walk or speak clearly
1
9.9
A little drunk or likely to drink alcohol
Very drunk or affected by drugs and unable to think clearly
Very drunk after drinking a lot of alcohol
Very drunk after drinking a lot of alcohol
Very drunk after drinking too much
Being very drunk after drinking a lot of alcohol
Feeling very drunk and acting foolishly
To say someone is very drunk or high on drugs in an informal rude way
Antonyms
How Drunk
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'cup(s)' as drinking vessels gives a plausible route to infer alcohol consumption, so a learner could guess a relation to drinking and thus to being drunk. However, the possessive construction 'in one's cups' is idiomatic and somewhat archaic, so the exact meaning ('intoxicated') is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase in one's cups may come from the image of a person sitting among empty cups after a long night of drinking. So, being 'in one's cups' came to mean 'drunk'.