Ways to say it
| Russian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| пья́ный | pʹjányj | |
| бухо́й | buxój | colloquial |
The term is used to describe someone who is intoxicated after drinking too much alcohol. While пья́ный describes a temporary state, related nouns like пья́ница are used to describe someone who is a habitual drinker or an alcoholic.
Which one should you use?
пья́ный is the standard, neutral adjective for being intoxicated. In contrast, бухо́й is a more colloquial, slangy term that often implies a state of heavy, messy intoxication or being 'wasted'. Regarding people, пья́ный describes a person currently in a drunk state, whereas пья́ница refers to a habitual drinker.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
пья́ный is the neutral, standard choice. бухо́й is colloquial. When referring to a habitual drinker, пья́ница is a neutral noun, while алка́ш is a derogatory slang term and алка́шка is also used as a slang noun.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, пья́ный must agree with the gender of the person you are describing: use пья́ная for a woman and пья́ные for a group of people. If the adjective is the direct object of a verb, such as in 'I saw the drunk man', the masculine/neuter form changes to пья́ного.
How do you pronounce it?
pʹjányj
Did you know?
- A person who is extremely drunk might be described as синий literally meaning 'blue' in Russian slang.
- The term в дрова literally means 'into firewood' and is a popular way to say someone is extremely intoxicated.
- While пья́ный is the standard word, Russians often use the phrase под мухой, meaning 'under the fly', to describe being tipsy.
Examples in context
- Он немного хмельной после двух бокалов винаHe is a bit drunk after two glasses of wine.
- Мы были навеселе всю ночьWe were drunk all night.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “drunk” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
