#6: Crapulous

Definition:

marked by intemperance especially in eating or drinking; sick from excessive indulgence in liquor

Example:

"They were crapulous and carrying blue cans of beer, one of them with a can in each hand." – Paul Theroux, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, 2008

About the Word:

Crapulous may sound like a word that you shouldn't use in polite company, but it actually has a long and perfectly respectable history (although it's not a particularly kind way to describe someone).

It is derived from the Late Latin adjective crapulosus, which in turn traces back to the Latin word crapula, meaning "intoxication." Crapula itself comes from a much older Greek word for the headache one gets from drinking.

Crapulous first appeared in print in 1536. Approximately 200 years later, its close cousin crapulence arrived on the scene as a word for sickness caused by drinking. Crapulence later acquired the meaning "great intemperance especially in drinking," but it is not an especially common word.