Meaning & use
big drinkers
Last updated
Meanings
phrasepluralinformal
people who regularly drink a lot of alcohol
Grammar: Used as a plural noun phrase; for one person say 'a big drinker'.
Patterns
- be big drinkers
- become big drinkers
My uncles are big drinkers, so they always bring wine to family parties.
The doctor warned that big drinkers often have liver problems.
She doesn't like going to bars with big drinkers because she doesn't drink much.
phrasepluralinformal
people who often drink large amounts of a particular non-alcoholic drink
Grammar: Usually followed by 'of' plus the drink, e.g. 'big drinkers of coffee'.
Patterns
- big drinkers of something
Students here are big drinkers of energy drinks during exam week.
My grandparents are big drinkers of tea; they have several cups a day.
Common combinations
- a big drinker
- He's a big drinker, but he never seems drunk.
- big drinkers of coffee
- Office workers are big drinkers of coffee.
- known as big drinkers
- The team is known as big drinkers after a win.
- heavy drinkers
- Heavy drinkers may need medical help to stop.
Synonyms and how they differ
- heavy drinkers
- More formal and often suggests a health risk; 'big drinkers' is more casual.
- boozers
- Very informal and can sound disapproving; 'big drinkers' is milder.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: big drinkers or heavy drinkers?
big drinkers vs heavy drinkers
'Heavy drinkers' is more formal and often suggests a medical or social problem, while 'big drinkers' is just informal.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'big drinkers' correctly.
Choose one answer.
'Big drinkers' is a plural noun phrase, so it needs a plural subject like 'My friends' and can be followed by 'of coffee'. Option A uses 'a' with a plural, B uses a singular noun with 'are', and D uses the phrase as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “big drinkers”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.