noun
rummy
A person who habitually drinks too much alcohol.
The neighbors call him a rummy because he drinks constantly.
Etymology
The alcohol name rum combines with a familiar person-forming ending. The resulting slang term labels someone through habitual heavy drinking.
More examples
- She refuses to dismiss her struggling brother as a rummy.
- The novel's old rummy spends every evening at the bar.
- Calling people rumm ies does nothing to help them quit drinking.
Forms
rummy · rummies
Similar words
- drunkard
- Also insulting, but more widely understood in modern speech.
- alcoholic
- Refers to alcohol dependence, not simply habitual excessive drinking.