Stoner Dictionary | Zonked

Zonked: adjective 1. tired or worn out after a long day and/or night of partying

Example: “After that Electric Run, I am zonked.”

Zonked is a stoner slang term that has survived the test of time. Prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, it has managed to remain a part of the counter-cultural lingo. Back in the psychedelic 1960s, during a time of political, social, racial, and sexual revolution, the term “stoned” actually was meant to describe trippin’ balls on lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. “When Jimi Hendrix played the national anthem at Woodstock, I was completely stoned on acid.” If you used the term stoned on its own, it was often assumed that you were referring to LSD. Not used so much in that context today, the term zonked was often used to describe the physically and mentally drained feeling post acid trip, as well. “After Woodstock, I was completely zonked.” Though nowhere nearly as horrific as a hangover, LSD users will often feel spent, comparable to the exhaustion felt after studying all day for a difficult midterm or final exam.

It is the feeling of brain cells well spent.

Just as the term stoned has evolved to describe being high on marijuana, so has the term zonked. Most cannabis users, medical or recreational, generally feel a heavy, exhausting effect from marijuana, especially if the particular strain is an indica. However, for the inexperienced, low tolerance, or first time smokers, this heavy hitting effect can leave you feeling completely wiped out. For example, you are a novice smoker enjoying an evening with your sons, shooting the shit and bonding over a bowl of tasty herb. Many marijuana users have experienced the effects to become more intense with age. After you inhale the sweet marijuana smoke and let it drift out of your lungs, you feel a blanket of relaxation cover your body and mind. While this sensation is coupled with euphoria, it will often leave you feeling sleepy and heavy, unable to move. The best word to describe this feeling is zonked. If you ever find yourself smoking a bowl with your dad or any old timers that were living it up in the 1960s and ’70s, ask him if he’s feeling zonked. You might bring up some memories and get an awesome story out of it.

The television game show “Let’s Make a Deal” coined the term zonked. Contestants who guess right are rewarded with cash and prizes, but guess wrong and you get zonked. The feeling of losing everything you had at stake drains participants of all the energy and excitement they started the game with. Even if you have never met a game show host or participated in one, you have probably partied like one and the next day felt like a zonked contestant. All the energy and excitement felt the night before is nothing more than a faded memory and your head feels like a balloon. You may even swear off partying forever, only to do it all over again the next weekend.