hammered

/ˈhæməd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhæmərd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈha-mərd/ (ame, mw)

hammered — adjective

  • hammeredpositive
  • more hammeredcomparative
  • most hammeredsuperlative

1. extremely drunk after consuming a lot of alcohol, to the point where speech, bal

1.形容詞C1
釋義

extremely drunk after consuming a lot of alcohol, to the point where speech, balance, or thinking is clearly affected.

例句

Theo got completely hammered at his cousin's wedding and fell asleep on the dance floor.

get + hammered for the result-state pattern

By midnight Hyun was so hammered that the bartender quietly took away his car keys.

同義詞
  • wasted

    very close synonym; equally informal and equally severe.

  • plastered

    informal, slightly older-sounding; same severity.

  • smashed

    informal; same severity, very common in British English.

  • tipsy

    milder — only slightly drunk; NOT a true synonym, contrast in degree.

反義詞
  • sober

    the opposite state — not affected by alcohol at all.

文法句型

be/get hammered

用法筆記

Predicative only — say 'he was hammered', not 'a hammered guest'. Almost always paired with 'get' or 'be'; intensifiers like 'completely', 'totally', 'absolutely' are very common.

常見錯誤

❌I drank a hammered beer last night.
✅I got hammered last night.
💡'hammered' in this sense describes the person, not the drink.
❌She felt slightly hammered after one glass of wine.
✅She felt a bit tipsy after one glass of wine.
💡'hammered' implies severe drunkenness, not mild buzz.

2. very badly hurt, damaged, or beaten — usually by a stronger opponent, a sudden d

2.形容詞C1
釋義

very badly hurt, damaged, or beaten — usually by a stronger opponent, a sudden disaster, or a sharp drop in money or value.

例句

Small bookshops in town have been hammered by the rise of online retailers like Amazon.

passive: be hammered by + cause

The home team got hammered 7-0 in the away match against the league leaders.

sports defeat: get hammered + score line

同義詞
  • battered

    very close synonym; emphasises repeated blows over time.

  • crushed

    stronger — total defeat or destruction, no recovery implied.

  • thrashed

    mostly sports/competition contexts; informal.

反義詞

文法句型

be hammered by sth

用法筆記

Frequently passive: subject is usually a vulnerable group, team, or asset; the agent appears in a 'by'-phrase (storm, opponent, market crash). Distinguish from sense 1 (drunk) by context — sense 2 needs an external cause and a measurable hit.

常見錯誤

❌The vase was hammered by the child.
✅The vase was broken by the child.
💡'hammered' here means a heavy defeat or sweeping damage, not simple breakage.

3. (of a metal object) shaped or finished by being struck many times with a hammer,

3.形容詞C2
釋義

(of a metal object) shaped or finished by being struck many times with a hammer, often leaving a textured surface of small dents.

例句

Ilan bought a hammered copper bowl from a small workshop in the old quarter of Jerusalem.

attributive: hammered + metal + object

The museum displayed a hammered silver plate that medieval craftsmen had made for a royal feast.

同義詞
  • beaten

    of metal, very close synonym ('beaten copper'); slightly more old-fashioned.

  • wrought

    shaped by hand, especially of iron; broader than just hammering.

反義詞
  • polished

    smooth, mirror-like finish — opposite of hammered's dimpled surface.

文法句型

hammered + metal noun

用法筆記

Used attributively before a metal noun (copper, silver, gold, brass, iron). The texture, not the act of hammering itself, is what the word evokes — it signals a craft finish.

常見錯誤

❌a hammered table
✅a hammered copper table top
💡the noun should name the metal, since the word describes the metal's finish.