Meaning & use
drinker
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who regularly drinks alcohol, especially one who drinks a lot.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a heavy drinker' or 'heavy drinkers'.
Patterns
- a heavy drinker
- a moderate drinker
- a drinker of something
He was a heavy drinker for years before he finally quit.
She's not much of a drinker, so she usually has just one glass of wine.
Doctors warned that drinkers who also smoke face the greatest risk.
nouncountable
A person who drinks a particular liquid, usually in the phrase 'a coffee/tea drinker'.
Grammar: Often used with a noun before it to say what someone likes to drink.
Patterns
- a coffee drinker
- a tea drinker
- a wine drinker
I'm a coffee drinker, but my husband never touches the stuff.
Tea drinkers in Britain consume millions of cups every day.
As a wine drinker, she prefers red to white.
nouncountabletechnical
An animal or person that takes in liquid; used in compounds like 'milk drinker'.
Grammar: Used mainly in compounds that describe what is being drunk.
Patterns
- a milk drinker
- a nectar drinker
Young mammals are milk drinkers for the first weeks of life.
The bat is a nectar drinker that feeds at night.
Word forms
| plural | drinkers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a heavy drinker
- Her father was a heavy drinker who rarely came home sober.
- a moderate drinker
- Moderate drinkers may gain some heart benefits, studies suggest.
- a social drinker
- He's only a social drinker and never drinks alone.
- a coffee drinker
- As a lifelong coffee drinker, she can't start the day without a cup.
- not much of a drinker
- I'm not much of a drinker, so I'll stick to water.
Synonyms and how they differ
- alcoholic
- Stronger and medical: an alcoholic is dependent on alcohol, while a drinker may simply drink often.
- tippler
- Old-fashioned and slightly humorous for someone who drinks regularly.
- boozer
- Informal and often disapproving for a person who drinks a lot.
Opposites
Word family
- drink verb
- To take liquid into your mouth and swallow it.
- drinking noun
- The act or habit of consuming alcohol.
- drinkable adjective
- Safe or pleasant enough to drink.
Commonly confused: drinker or drunk? drinker or drunkard?
drinker vs drunk
'Drunk' describes someone affected by alcohol right now, or a person who often gets drunk; 'drinker' just describes the habit.
drinker vs drunkard
A drunkard is a strong, disapproving word for someone who is often drunk; 'drinker' is more neutral.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'drinker' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A heavy drinker of coffee' follows the pattern 'a + adjective + drinker + of + noun'. Option 1 needs 'a' before the noun and would mean she was drunk, not a habitual drinker; options 2 and 3 use 'drinker' where a verb form is needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “drinker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.