Dutch courage


noun Sometimes Offensive.

courage inspired by drunkenness or drinking liquor.

Origin of Dutch courage

First recorded in 1805–15

usage note for Dutch courage

Dutch courage is foolish courage or misplaced confidence. Because “Dutch” is used to imply that the courage is not genuine, the term is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by the Dutch. See also Dutch.

British Dictionary definitions for dutch courage

Dutch courage

noun

false courage gained from drinking alcohol
alcoholic drink

Idioms and Phrases with dutch courage

Dutch courage

False courage acquired by drinking liquor, as in He had a quick drink to give him Dutch courage. This idiom alludes to the reputed heavy drinking of the Dutch, and was first referred to in Edmund Waller's Instructions to a Painter (1665): “The Dutch their wine, and all their brandy lose, Disarm'd of that from which their courage grows.”