air mhisg
The Gaelic word for drunk is air mhisg.
air mhisg is used as an adjective to describe the temporary state of being intoxicated after consuming too much alcohol.
Meaning: intoxicated after drinking too much alcohol (adj)
Which one should you use?
While air mhisg describes the temporary state of being intoxicated, there are nouns used for people. drongair refers to a person who is a habitual drinker, and pòitear is a more derogatory noun used for a drunkard.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase air mhisg functions as an adjectival phrase and does not change its form based on the gender or number of the subject.
Did you know?
- The word air in the phrase air mhisg is a linguistic 'triple threat' that combines the sounds of three different Old Irish prepositions: 'on', 'for', and 'after'.
- Because of its complex history, the word air triggers a grammatical change called eclipsis in the following word, which alters how the phrase is pronounced.
Examples in context
- Bhí sé ar meisce go hiomlánHe was completely intoxicated
- Tha e air mhisg.He is drunk.
- Chan eil i air mhisg idir.She is not drunk at all.
- Tha an duine sin air mhisg.That man is drunk.
Example conversation
Angus and Catriona are at a party.
- AngusA bheil an t-fear sin air mhisg?Is that man drunk?
- CatrionaTha, tha e glè air mhisg.Yes, he is very drunk.
- AngusTha e a' baileachadh.He is stumbling.
- CatrionaFeumaidh e tachairt.He needs to be careful.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drunk” translations and entries air mhisg, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries air, CC BY-SA 4.0.
