hungover
UK[ˌhʌŋˈəʊvə]US[ˌhʌŋˈoʊvər]
adj
Suffering from the unpleasant physical effects after drinking too much alcohol, such as a headache and feeling sick.
adj
Experiencing lingering tiredness or emotional effects after a period of intense activity or excitement.
Morpheme Breakdown
hung
over
hung
suspended
over
above
Etymology
The term 'hungover' is a 19th-century American English compound adjective formed from the phrasal verb 'to hang over.' Its logic is vividly metaphorical: the unpleasant after-effects of excess are conceptualized as something that 'hangs over' one from the previous day, like a lingering cloud or burden. This construction follows a Germanic pattern of creating descriptive compounds, where 'hung' conveys a state of being suspended or remaining, and 'over' adds the notion of persistence and inescapability. The word elegantly captures the feeling of a sickness that is not present in the moment but is a leftover consequence, suspended from the past into the present.
Analysis
Structure: hung (suspended) + over (above)
- hung: From Old English hōn (to hang). In this compound, it carries the sense of being suspended or left over.
- over: From Old English ofer (above, beyond). In this compound, it intensifies the sense of a lingering state or condition.
Examples
He called in sick to work because he was too hungover.
After the three-day music festival, I felt completely hungover from the lack of sleep and constant noise.
She drank a lot of water before bed to avoid feeling hungover the next morning.