volltrunken

Volltrunken is a German adjective and, less commonly, an adverbial description used to denote a state of extreme drunkenness. It literally combines voll (full) and trunken (drunk) and is employed to emphasize that someone is completely intoxicated.

Grammatical usage is mainly predicative, as in Er war volltrunken. Attributive use is rare and stylistically marked, often found in older or more literary prose. In contemporary everyday language, speakers tend to substitute rounding modifiers such as sehr betrunken or völlig betrunken for a similar effect.

In literary and historical contexts, volltrunken is more common than in plain speech. It can contribute a vivid, emphatic tone to descriptions of scenes involving alcohol or revelry, and is sometimes encountered in translations of classical or semi-archaic texts. The term carries a stronger connotation than general words for drunkenness and is typically associated with expressive or dramatic writing.

Translations into English are usually given as completely drunk or utterly intoxicated, among other equivalents. Examples illustrating its use are rare in modern conversation but can appear in older narratives or stylistically marked prose: Er war nach dem Fest volltrunken und musste sich stützen. Such sentences illustrate the word’s emphasis on an overpowering level of intoxication within a narrative context.