adj. (colloquial).—Stupid with drink. For synonyms, see DRINKS and SCREWED.

1

  1661.  PEPYS, Diary, 8 March. After dinner, to drink all the afternoon … at last come in Sir William Wale, almost FUDDLED.

2

  1713.  The Guardian, No. 145, 27 Aug. It was my misfortune to call in at Tom’s last night, a little FUDDLED.

3

  1730.  J. THOMSON, The Seasons, Autumn, 537.

                    The table floating round,
And pavement, faithless to the FUDDLED foot.

4

  1838.  DICKENS, Nicholas Nickleby, ch. lx., p. 485. You ’re a little FUDDLED to-night, and may not be able to see this, as clearly as you would at another time.

5

  1841.  Punch, I., p. 74. The Sultan got very FUDDLED last night with forbidden juice in the harem, and tumbled down the ivory steps.

6

  1864.  Glasgow Citizen, 19 Nov. No other word has so many equivalents as ‘drunk.’… One very common and old one has escaped Mr. Hotten—FUDDLED.

7

  1888.  Daily News, 28 Nov. Music halls would soon decrease in numbers if drink were not sold in them, for sober people would not go to see spectacles only attractive to those who were half FUDDLED.

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