Alkoholischer

Alkoholischer is the masculine nominative singular inflected form of the German adjective alkoholisch, meaning containing alcohol or alcohol-related. It is used to describe masculine nouns in phrases such as alkoholischer Wein (alcoholic wine) or der alkoholische Wein. Like other adjectives in German, it is declined to match gender, number, and case: ein alkoholischer Wein, das alkoholische Getränk, die alkoholische Substanz.

Common usages include alkoholisches Getränk (an alcoholic beverage), alkoholische Substanz (an alcohol-containing substance) and alkoholische Lösung (an alcoholic solution). It can also appear in broader senses, for example der alkoholische Geruch (the smell of alcohol) or der alkoholische Inhalt (the alcohol content) in product labeling.

Etymology and meaning: The noun Alkohol denotes ethanol and is a loanword that entered German from the wider European chemist’s vocabulary, ultimately tracing back to Arabic al-kuḥl and related forms in French alcool or Dutch alcohol. The adjective alkoholisch is formed from this noun by adding the German suffix -isch, yielding the sense “containing alcohol” or “alcohol-related.”

Related terms and distinctions: The adjective alkohollisch should not be used to refer to people. For a person who abuses alcohol, German commonly uses Alkoholiker (a person with an alcohol use disorder) or related terms such as alkoholabhängig. The opposite of alkoholisch in labeling is alkoholfrei (non-alcoholic). The term alkoholisiert means intoxicated by alcohol, which is a different sense from simply containing alcohol.