One syllable: drunk.
/ˈdɹʌŋk/
Say it backDrunk is an adjective or noun describing someone under the influence of alcohol, or something impaired in quality or function. In everyday speech, it most commonly refers to intoxication, often implying a noticeable loss of coordination or judgment. The term also appears in figurative uses, such as “drunk on pride,” but these are less standard. Pronunciation centers on a short, rounded vowel and a clear final /ŋ/ with a velar nasal finish.
"- After three margaritas, she felt drunk and had trouble walking in a straight line."
"- The bottle was empty, and the room spun; he clearly looked drunk."
"- Don’t drive if you’re drunk; call a cab instead."
Pronounce it as /drʌŋk/. Start with a quick /dr/ consonant blend, then the stressed vowel /ʌ/ like in 'strut', followed immediately by the velar nasal /ŋ/ and final /k/. In many dialects, the /r/ is not strongly released after /d/; keep the /d/ alveolar stop crisp, then move into a short /ʌ/ and the /ŋ/ before closing with /k/. Sound-wise, think of it as DR-uh-ngk with a brief, tight mouth position. IPA: /drʌŋk/.
Two common errors: 1) Slurring the /dr/ cluster into a single sound; keep /d/ and /r/ distinct yet connected. 2) Mispronouncing the vowel as a lax /ə/ or /ɜː/; aim for the short lax /ʌ/ as in 'cup'. Correction: practice a rapid, connected /dr/ release then a crisp /ʌ/ before the /ŋk/ closure. Ensure the /ŋ/ is velar and not followed by an unnecessary /g/ sound; keep the /ŋ/ soft and immediate into /k/.
In US, UK, and AU, the core /drʌŋk/ stays, but rhoticity may affect r-coloring before vowels in connected speech. The /r/ is more pronounced in American speech only in syllable-tinitial clusters; however, after /d/ before a vowel the transition is rapid. Vowel quality: US tends to have a slightly higher /ʌ/; UK often a more centralized /ʌ/; AU tends to draw the vowel towards /ɐ/ or a centralized /ɐː/ depending on region. Final /ŋk/ is stable across dialects, but vowel length and preceding consonant timing may vary in rapid speech.
The main challenge is producing the tight /dr/ onset and the short, central /ʌ/ before a rapid /ŋk/ closure. Beginners often insert an extra vowel or insert an audible /g/ or /d/ into the nasal or final cluster. To master: practice the two-part sequence: crisp /d/ release into a compact /r/ then a quick /ʌ/ followed by the velar nasal /ŋ/ and final /k/. The result should be smooth, with the /ŋ/ clearly sung before /k/.
A unique nuance is that drunk often functions as a quick, evaluative descriptor, not just a state: you’ll hear it compressed in fast talk, sometimes merging with phrases like “drunk in love” as a metaphor. In fast conversational English, you may hear a reduced version in connected speech, where the /ʌ/ slightly shifts toward a schwa in rapid context. The fundamental phonemes remain /drʌŋk/, but timing and vowel color shift with pace.
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- US: R-coloring is present in some regions; you’ll feel a fuller /r/ before the diphthong. Emphasize mouth rounding less; keep the tongue high-mid for /ʌ/. - UK: Often non-rhotic, so /r/ is less pronounced; focus on a tight /d/ release into /ʌ/ and a crisp /ŋ/; the /r/ may be silent except in linking contexts. - AU: Similar to UK but with more vowel variation; the /ʌ/ may be centralized toward /ɐ/ in some regions; keep /ŋk/ crisp. Use IPA as a reference: /drʌŋk/. - General: ensure the final /ŋk/ is a single velar nasal release into /k/; avoid a swallowed or extra vowel before /ŋ/.
The word drunk traces to Old English druncen, from the verb drincan (to drink), and is closely related to the Proto-Germanic root drinkanan. It entered Middle English with the sense of being intoxicated from drinking alcohol; the modern sense of being under the influence formed by semantic narrowing. Historically, drunk appeared in literature to describe people overcome by drink, with early attestations in biblical and poemic contexts illustrating both literal intoxication and metaphorical excess. By the 16th–17th centuries, drunk also began to take colloquial forms in social speech, evolving into fixed phrases like “drunk as a lord” in some regions. The word’s core phonology—short vowels, a single closed syllable, final velar nasal—has remained stable, even as English pronunciation drifted regionally. First known uses appear in Old English glossaries and later in Middle English texts, where the sense of intoxication with alcohol was explicitly described. The semantic breadth expanded to include figurative intoxication (e.g., “drunk on power”) as modern usage grew, though these metaphorical applications still retain the core sense of overwhelming influence or impairment. Overall, drunk remains a compact, highly frequent term with strong ties to alcohol-related contexts, and it preserves the simple CV structure that makes it notably easy to mispronounce only if transitional phonemes are unsettled in a speaker’s accent.
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Words that rhyme with "drunk"
-unk sounds
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