Inclined or tending toward alcoholism; having dipsomania.
Derived from 'dipso' or 'dipsomaniac,' early 20th-century slang formations based on Greek 'dipsa' (thirst), applied metaphorically to compulsive drinking.
Victorian and early 20th-century doctors loved creating medical-sounding slang for drunkenness—'dipsey' made alcoholism sound like a scientific condition rather than a moral failing, which actually helped some people get better treatment.
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