An informal or slang term for someone who drinks too much alcohol, or a colloquial adjective meaning 'related to alcohol'.
A casual contraction/shortening of 'alcoholic', following English slang patterns of informal word formation. Emerged in 20th-century colloquial speech.
Slang words like 'alky' show how English speakers love taking longer words and chopping them down—kind of like texting before texting existed! The more informal a community is, the more shortened and creative their vocabulary gets.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.