In his cups the bowsy poet sings. 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
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bowsier
Degree=Cmp
lexicographic
bowsiest
Degree=Sup
lexicographic
bowsy en · NOUN · etymology 2
Etymology
Probably from above, from being applied to drunkards.
Meanings
(Ireland, colloquial) An unsavoury and unreliable (usually male) layabout.
—The mockery of it, he said contentedly, secondleg they should be. God knows what poxy bowsy left them off. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC: