stale drunk
Preserved but no longer current.
Unevaporated fumes of liquor. A man is said to be STALE DRUNK when he has been drunk overnight, and has doctored himself with stimulants a little too much in the morning—when he has tried too many of the "hairs of the dog that bit him." If this state of things is long continued, it is often called "same OLD DRUNK," from a well-known nigger story.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “stale drunk” mean?
Unevaporated fumes of liquor. A man is said to be STALE DRUNK when he has been drunk overnight, and has doctored himself with stimulants a little too much in the morning—when he has tried too many of the "hairs of the dog that bit him." If this state of things is long continued, it is often called "same OLD DRUNK," from a well-known nigger story.
Is “stale drunk” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.