An acute organic mental disorder resulting from a recent cessation or reduction in alcohol consumption with the essential characteristic being delirium: Alcohol withdrawal delirium is an autonomic hyperactivity that is characterized by tachycardia (fast heart beat), sweating, and elevated blood pressure. It was formerly called "delirium tremens".

Another characteristic of alcohol withdrawal delirium includes the DTs, "the horrors", "the shakes", or" "rum fits", literally, "shaking delirium" or "trembling madness" (in Latin).

Alcohol withdrawal delirium is an acute episode of delirium which is usually caused by abstinence, from alcohol following habitual excessive drinking.