crackhead

[krak-hed]

noun

Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a habitual user of cocaine in the form of crack.

crackhead

/ ˈkrækˌhɛd /

noun

1. slang,  a person addicted to the drug crack

Word History and Origins

Origin of crackhead¹

First recorded in 1985–90; crack ( def. ) (in the sense of “purified cocaine”) + head (in the sense “habitual user of a drug”)

Example Sentences

In 2014, media regulator Ofcom upheld a complaint relating to the treatment of a 17-year-old girl who was called a "crackhead" and a "silly anorexic slapper" by her older sister on air.

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On Monday, a video began circulating showing him slapping away an artist known as Crackhead Barney's phone when confronted at a coffee shop just feet away from his New York City home.

Read more on Salon

He called Ulanga “a crackhead,” and noted Phillips was living “back in the projects.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“I’ve been all over the country and have interviewed hundreds of people whose lives were touched by crack, but never have I met a ‘crackhead,’” Donovan X. Ramsey writes toward the end of his first book, “When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“He looks like a crackhead to me!”

Read more on Washington Times

When To Use

What does crackhead mean?

A crackhead is a slang term for someone who is addicted to or does a lot of the drug crack cocaine. The word is more generally used to insult someone considered to be acting like a crackhead, that is, wildly and stupidly.