spirituous

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: spir=it=u=ous

CIDE DICTIONARY

spirituous, a. [Cf. (for sense 2) F. spiritueux. Cf. Spiritous.].

•  Having the quality of spirit; tenuous in substance, and having active powers or properties; ethereal; immaterial; spiritual; pure.  [1913 Webster]
•  Containing, or of the nature of, alcoholic (esp. distilled) spirit; consisting of refined spirit; alcoholic; ardent; as, spirituous liquors.  [1913 Webster]
•  Lively; gay; vivid; airy.  Sir H. Wotton.  [1913 Webster]

  "The mind of man is of that spirituous, stirring nature, that it is perpetually at work."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

spirituous, adj.
1 containing much alcohol.
2 distilled, as whisky, rum, etc. (spirituous liquor).

Derivative

spirituousness n.

Etymology

L spiritus spirit, or F spiritueux

THESAURUS

spirituous

air-built, airy, alcoholic, ardent, chimerical, cloud-built, dreamlike, ethereal, fanciful, fatuitous, fatuous, gaseous, gossamery, hard, illusory, imaginary, phantomlike, rarefied, shadowy, strong, subtile, subtle, tenuous, unreal, vaporous, vinous, windy, winy, with a kick