Meaning & use
alcoholic person
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
a person who regularly drinks too much alcohol and cannot control their drinking.
Grammar: Countable; you can say 'an alcoholic person' or 'alcoholic people'.
Patterns
- an alcoholic person
- alcoholic people
- be an alcoholic person
After years of heavy drinking, he finally admitted he was an alcoholic person and sought help.
The support group is open to any alcoholic person who wants to stop drinking.
She didn't want to be labeled an alcoholic person, even though she drank every day.
nouncountablemedicalformal
a person who is addicted to alcohol, used in medical or formal contexts.
Grammar: Often replaced by 'alcoholic' as a noun or 'person with alcohol use disorder' in clinical settings.
Patterns
- diagnose someone as an alcoholic person
- treat an alcoholic person
The clinic provides rehabilitation for each alcoholic person admitted.
In medical terms, an alcoholic person is now often described as having alcohol use disorder.
Word forms
| plural | alcoholic people |
|---|
Common combinations
- a recovering alcoholic person
- He is a recovering alcoholic person who hasn't had a drink in five years.
- a chronic alcoholic person
- The shelter offers meals and counseling to chronic alcoholic people.
- help an alcoholic person
- It's hard to help an alcoholic person who doesn't want to change.
- an alcoholic person's family
- An alcoholic person's family often needs support too.
Synonyms and how they differ
- alcoholic
- More common as a noun, but can sound blunt or judgmental; 'alcoholic person' is slightly more formal and person-first.
- drunkard
- Old-fashioned and disapproving; it criticizes the person rather than describing a condition.
- problem drinker
- A broader term for someone whose drinking causes problems, not necessarily addicted.
Opposites
Word family
- alcohol noun
- The substance in drinks like beer, wine, and spirits.
- alcoholism noun
- The medical condition of being addicted to alcohol.
- alcoholic adjective
- Containing alcohol, as in 'alcoholic drinks'.
Commonly confused: alcoholic person or alcoholic?
alcoholic person vs alcoholic
As an adjective it means 'containing alcohol' (e.g., 'alcoholic beverages'). As a noun it means a person addicted to alcohol. 'Alcoholic person' avoids that ambiguity.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'alcoholic person' correctly and naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Alcoholic person' refers to a human being who drinks excessively, so it fits in sentence B. In An and D, 'alcoholic person' is wrongly used as a drink order; in C, it is wrongly used to describe wine (the adjective 'alcoholic' would be correct there).
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “alcoholic person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.