← Back to search

Meaning of half seas over | Babel Free

Adjective CEFR C1

Definitions

Slightly drunk, or, possibly in meiosis, very drunk.

dated, not-comparable, slang

Examples

“Many of my readers will recollect the memorable night, on which William Pitt and his ingenious friend and jovial compotator, Harry Dundas, went into the House of Commons, in a condition usually described by the phrase "of being half seas over."”

“They strutted into the box department at the English Opera House, on the preceding night at half price, and half-seas-over — whether with cape, blackstrap, or blue ruin, did not appear. Two of them were particularly half-seas-over, viz. — Mr. Bob Dodd and Mr. Will. Wood; the other, Mr. Fred. Hughes, was but so so.”

CEFR level

C1

Advanced
This word is part of the CEFR C1 vocabulary — advanced level.

See also

half shell half-a-dozen half-and-half half-arsed half-asleep half-ass