酗酒
xù jiǔ · HSK 7
heavy drinking
🍶🥴 酗 + 酒 = drink-to-excess + alcohol; both share 酉, the wine-jar radical
酉 (yǒu) is an ancient pictograph of a wine jar and sits in both characters. 酗 adds 凶 (xiōng, fierce/violent), so the pair reads as fierce wine-jar drinking — alcohol abuse to the point of getting drunk.
酒 — water 氵 + 酉 (wine vessel)
酒 combines 氵 (water) with 酉, an ancient pictograph of a wine jar with a narrow neck. 酉 alone originally meant fermented liquor, but as it was borrowed for the tenth earthly branch, the water radical was added to keep the 'alcoholic drink' meaning clear.