besotted

adjective

be·​sot·​ted bi-ˈsä-təd 

bē-

1

: blindly or utterly infatuated

besotted lovers

They have a mad affair. He is besotted. But she is an expensive partner, and he needs money to keep her in style.

—Newgate Callendar

The husband … seems besotted with his wife and horribly jealous of the bird she's protecting.

—Edmund White

2

: intoxicated or stupefied especially with drink

… longed only to get out of the house for a lively evening with his old cronies, who were boorish, bumbling and besotted every last one of them.

—Dennis Drabelle

We issued into an empty street through a half-open door, staggering like besotted revellers.

—Joseph Conrad

besottedly adverb

She had gone back with him to his flat that first night blindly and besottedly in love with him.

—Anne Mulcock

besottedness noun

I was besotted with the idea and the reality of Venice, and that besottedness has never quite left me …

—Erica Jong

Did you know?

You may be familiar with the noun sot as a synonym of drunkard, and indeed the Old English word sott, referring to a foolish or stupid person, eventually picked up that boozy meaning centuries later (after dropping a t). The now-archaic verb sot followed a similar trajectory, its original meaning of “to cause to appear foolish or stupid” was eventually joined by “to drink excessively.” The earliest recorded usage of the related adjective besotted (in the late 16th century, from the past participle of the verb besot), however, described a state of intoxication due to amorousness rather than adult beverages; the still-current sense of besotted meaning “drunk” didn’t show up until the early 19th century. In fact, evidence of the “infatuated” sense of besotted also predates the tipple-related senses of the noun sot, verb sot, and verb besot, suggesting perhaps that love may be the strongest intoxicant of all.

Synonyms

• blasted [slang]
• blind
• blitzed [slang]
• blotto [slang]
• bombed
• boozy
• canned [slang]
• cockeyed
• crocked
• drunk
• drunken
• fried
• gassed
• hammered [slang]
• high
• impaired
• inebriate
• inebriated
• intoxicated
• juiced [slang]
• lit
• lit up
• loaded [slang]
• looped
• oiled [slang]
• pickled
• pie-eyed
• plastered
• potted [slang]
• ripped [slang]
• sloshed [slang]
• smashed [slang]
• sottish
• soused
• sozzled
• squiffed
• squiffy
• stewed
• stiff
• stinking [slang]
• stoned
• tanked [slang]
• tiddly [chiefly British]
• tight
• tipsy
• wasted [slang]
• wet
• wiped out [slang]

Examples of besotted in a Sentence

the friends agreed they couldn't let him drive in his besotted condition

Recent Examples on the Web

The subtext is so obvious that it can hardly be called subtext, and yet my idiotic, besotted heart continued to thump in the direction of a happy ending. —Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 Apr. 2025

The besotted student starts going out of her way to bump into her new teacher, seeking her out in the school’s corridors or staff areas or outdoor spaces. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025

The besotted who search for the perfect ring for a Valentine’s Day proposal have nothing on Adélie penguins. —Ingrid Newkirk, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2025

At a Cafe Beaujolais-style inn Margaret Fox first opened the doors of her iconic cafe nearly 50 years ago, delighting locals and wooing besotted Bay Area weekenders. —John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for besotted

• allotted
• boycotted
• carotid
• parotid
• unspotted
• blotted
• clotted
• dotted
• jotted
• knotted
• plotted
• potted

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