pickled

adjective

pick·​led ˈpi-kəld 

1

: preserved in or cured with pickle

pickled herring

2

: drunk sense 1a

gets thoroughly pickled before dinner

—New Yorker

Synonyms

• besotted
• blasted [slang]
• blind
• blitzed [slang]
• blotto [slang]
• bombed
• boozy
• canned [slang]
• cockeyed
• crocked
• drunk
• drunken
• fried
• gassed
• hammered [slang]
• high
• impaired
• inebriate
• inebriated
• intoxicated
• juiced [slang]
• lit
• lit up
• loaded [slang]
• looped
• oiled [slang]
• pie-eyed
• plastered
• potted [slang]
• ripped [slang]
• sloshed [slang]
• smashed [slang]
• sottish
• soused
• sozzled
• squiffed
• squiffy
• stewed
• stiff
• stinking [slang]
• stoned
• tanked [slang]
• tiddly [chiefly British]
• tight
• tipsy
• wasted [slang]
• wet
• wiped out [slang]

Examples of pickled in a Sentence

He got pickled at the office party.

I must have been rather pickled when I agreed to your stupid scheme.

Recent Examples on the Web

The British megastar is just one of several celebrities whose image has been recreated using ingredients like rice, salmon and pickled ginger by British food artist Michelle Wibowo. —Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 19 June 2024

Top your burgers or hot dogs with a batch of pickled peppers. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 June 2024

The octopus carpaccio, thin slices of octopus arranged like a flower on the plate, is served over a smoky salsa negra and topped with pickled red onion, Fresno and Manzano peppers. —Bahar Anooshahr, The Arizona Republic, 22 Apr. 2024

And the results — a veggie-forward Thai noodle salad, a pickled pepper take on potato salad and a garlicky elote number — will stand out from the sea of ho-hum summer sides. —Gretchen McKay, The Mercury News, 13 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

pickled

adjective

pick·​led

: preserved with pickle