やけ酒(ざけ)

やけざけ

noun

drinking out of frustration; drowning one's sorrows

1. drinking to cope with frustration or despair

Drinking alcohol heavily as a way to cope with stress, disappointment, or frustration, rather than for enjoyment. Often used self-deprecatingly about one's own behavior after something has gone wrong.

やけ酒(ざけ)を飲(の)む。

I'm drinking to drown my sorrows.

失恋(しつれん)して、やけ酒(ざけ)に走(はし)った。

After getting dumped, I turned to drinking my sorrows away.

試験(しけん)に落(お)ちた夜(よる)、友人(ゆうじん)とやけ酒(ざけ)を飲(の)んで愚痴(ぐち)をこぼした。

The night I failed the exam, I drank away my frustration with a friend and complained about it.

やけ (from 自棄(やけ), desperation, giving up) + 酒(ざけ)(sake): drinking to cope with frustration, not for pleasure.

Common collocations

やけ酒(ざけ)を飲(の)む: to drink out of frustration
やけ酒(ざけ)に走(はし)る: to turn to drinking one's sorrows away
今夜(こんや)はやけ酒(ざけ)だ: tonight I'm drowning my sorrows

Similar words

やけ食(ぐ)い: stress eating — the food equivalent of the same やけ prefix
暴飲暴食(ぼういんぼうしょく): binge eating and drinking — broader, not tied to a specific emotional cause

Related Words

Related: やけ食(ぐ)い (stress eating)

Compare: 暴飲暴食(ぼういんぼうしょく) (binge eating and drinking)

general

Added 2026.9.22 1:18 · Revised 2026.9.22 1:25

30500/30996_yakezake