ripped, adj.¹ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

ripped adj.¹

[SE ripped, torn]

1. (orig. US, also rip, ripped off, ripped up) extremely intoxicated by drink, drugs or a mixture.

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 220: ripped Intoxicated by drugs.
1970		Current Sl. V:2 11: Ripped up, adj. Very intoxicated.
1973		in C. Browne Body Shop 135: We all got ripped together up at the hospital [...] stoned out of our minds.
1977		L. Heinemann Close Quarters (1987) 9: We threw a party [...] everybody getting ripped and red-eyed drinking quarts.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 176: Losing motor and emotional control (ripped).
1980		H. Ellison All the Lies in Shatterday (1982) 177: I couldn’t possibly write the crap I write if I was ripped.
1986		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 8: rip – drunk.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 127: I’d [...] stay ripped for so long.
1997		L. Davies Candy 6: [of heroin] I have another blast and get pretty ripped myself.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 67: He was ripped with his boys.
2000		Eminem ‘Under the Influence’ 🎵 I’m ripped, I’m on an acid trip.
2007		T. Dorsey Hurricane Punch 176: I’m ripped on this ’cane! Isn’t she great?
2014		C. Eble (ed.) UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 5: He was reefer-ripped and poking two underage twists.

2. unhappy, furious.

1956		‘Hal Ellson’ ‘Dangerous’ in Tell Them Nothing (1956) 56: I’m still ripped, but I got to smile.
1964		R.S. Gold Jazz Lex. 255: ripped, adj. [hyperbole: emotional analogy with physical fragmentation] [...] Distraught, grief-stricken.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 185: Ripped Angry. Disgusted.
1985		R. Frede Nurses 249: I don’t want to calm down! I am fucking-A ripped.

ripped out of one’s gourd (adj.) [gourd n. (2)]

(US campus) drunk.

1973		Eble Campus Sl. Nov. 3: ripped out of one’s gourd – very drunk.
1996		Eble Sl. and Sociability 45: Among the synonyms for drunk are [...] polluted, ripped out of one’s gourd, ripped to the tits.

ripped to the tits (adj.) (also ripped off one’s ass, ripped to the nuts, ...to the gills) [ass n./to the tits under tit n.²/to the gills under gills n.¹]

(orig. US) very intoxicated by drink, drugs or a combination.

1978		A. Maupin Tales of the City (1984) 127: The last thing we need is one of those tight-assed dinosaurs stumbling in here ripped to the tits.
1983		Eble Campus Sl. Nov.
1997		L. Pettiway Workin’ It 79: I was on a methadone program at the time, and I was ripped off my ass.
1999		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 98 Oct. 24: ripped to the tits adj. A level of inebriation achieved using drink and drugs.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 330: Tha twinkle that people are alweys remarkin on but which a can only ever see meself when ripped to the tits.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 68: ‘You’re really getting seriously fucked up, completely hammered, ripped to the nuts, shit-faced and puking’.
2018		‘Aidan Truhen’ Price You Pay 210: Remember Billy who was big and made a living putting tubes up buildings whilst ripped to the tits on the Pale Peruvian.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 189: Now she’s all rectitude — ripped to the gills.

get ripped!

(Aus.) a general excl. of dismissal, be quiet! go to hell!

1948		S.L. Elliott Rusty Bugles I i: Aw, get ripped, you rotten little sawn-off runt.
1966		D. Niland Pairs and Loners 16: ‘I pity you.’ ‘Get ripped,’ he said. ‘What’s more’, I said, ‘you’re unintelligent.’.
1977		S.L. Elliott Water under Bridge 234: Oh get ripped [AND].