Meaning & use
drunker than a skunk
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseinformalhumorous
Extremely drunk, described with a funny comparison that rhymes.
Grammar: Uses the comparative drunker plus than; the whole phrase follows be or get.
Patterns
- be drunker than a skunk
- get drunker than a skunk
After the party he was drunker than a skunk.
You are drunker than a skunk — give me your car keys.
Common combinations
- be drunker than a skunk
- By ten o'clock she was drunker than a skunk.
- get drunker than a skunk
- He gets drunker than a skunk every New Year's Eve.
- drunker than a skunk at a wedding
- The groom's brother was drunker than a skunk at the wedding.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drunk like a skunk
- Nearly the same joke, but it uses like instead of the comparative than.
- blind drunk
- Means extremely drunk in informal British and American speech, without the rhyme.
- plastered
- Informal slang for very drunk; it sounds more dated than the skunk phrase.
Opposites
Word family
- drunk adjective
- Having had too much alcohol; the base of the comparative drunker.
Commonly confused: drunker than a skunk or drunk like a skunk?
drunker than a skunk vs drunk like a skunk
That version uses like and does not compare two things, while this one uses the comparative drunker than.
Practice
Choose the sentence that is grammatically correct.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase needs the comparative drunker before than. Option 1 uses the base form, option 3 doubles the comparative with more, and option 4 uses the superlative drunkest, which cannot go with than.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “drunker than a skunk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.