betrunken

Betrunken is a German adjective meaning intoxicated or drunk, in the sense of being under the influence of alcohol. It describes a state that results from consuming alcohol and is most commonly used with the verb sein: Er ist betrunken.

Etymology and usage notes: Betrunken derives from the verb betrinken, meaning to intoxicate. In modern German, betrunken is used predicatively to describe someone’s current condition, as in Er war betrunken. Attributive use is possible with appropriate inflection (for example, ein betrunkener Mann), but the predicative form is more common in everyday language. The term is relatively neutral, sitting between formal medical or legal discussions and everyday speech.

Alternatives and nuance: In everyday speech, many speakers prefer colloquial terms such as besoffen or kraftlos after drinking heavily. Besoffen is more informal and blunt, while betrunken carries a standard, nontechnical tone. In Swiss or Austrian dialects, variations may occur, but betrunken remains widely understood across German-speaking regions.

Related forms and legal language: The noun form for drunkenness is typically Trunkenheit, especially in legal contexts (for example, Trunkenheit im Verkehr, referring to driving under the influence). The related adjective for intoxication caused on someone else is betrunken, though context often uses other terms for clarity in medical or legal writing.

In summary, betrunken is a standard German adjective describing intoxication from alcohol, most often encountered in predicative usage, with formal and legal variations preserved in specialized language.