Chinese word

醉

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuì

Meaning

  • verbbe drunk

Example

他喝多了，已经醉了。tā hē duō le yǐ jīng zuì le

He drank too much and is already drunk.

Illustration for 醉 (be drunk)

More examples

他喝了烈酒，很快就醉了。tā hē le liè jiǔ hěn kuài jiù zuì le

He drank strong liquor and quickly got drunk.

Core concept

A person loses clear awareness and normal control as alcohol or another intoxicant takes effect.

Common phrases

  • 喝醉了hē zuì le

    get drunk

  • 醉倒zuì dào

    pass out drunk

Similar words

喝醉hē zuì: Reach a drunken state by drinking alcohol.
醉酒zuì jiǔ: Be in a drunken state because of alcohol's effects.
醉倒zuì dào: Become so drunk that falling down or losing consciousness occurs.
陶醉táo zuì: Feel deeply delighted and absorbed by something beautiful or wonderful.

Definition in Chinese

喝酒或吸入麻醉等物质后出现意识模糊、行走或说话失常的状态，也指因为喝酒而变得醉酒。hē jiǔ huò xī rù má zuì děng wù zhì hòu chū xiàn yì shí mó hú xíng zǒu huò shuō huà shī cháng de zhuàng tài yě zhǐ yīn wèi hē jiǔ ér biàn de zuì jiǔ

Word origin

醉 (zuì, "be drunk") combines 酉 (yǒu, "wine"), which marks the alcohol-related sense, with 卒 (zú, "finish"), which mainly supplies the sound.

Usage tips

  • The same everyday word can describe different degrees of intoxication, so context and degree expressions carry more detail than the basic word alone.

Opposites

  • 醒酒xíng jiǔsober upverb

Related words

  • 醉酒zuì jiǔdrunkennessnoun
  • 醉意zuì yìsigns of drunkennessnoun

Word lists with this word