addict

[ad-ikt, uh-dikt]

noun

1. Sometimes Offensive.

   1. a person who has become physically or psychologically dependent on a chemical substance.

      The leader of the addiction recovery center is, importantly, a self-identified former drug addict.

   2. a person with an uncontrolled compulsion to continue engaging in an activity despite suffering negative personal or professional consequences.

      The funding is for treatment programs for sex addicts and pathological gamblers.

   Synonyms: junkie, fanatic, adherent

2. a devoted fan; enthusiast; devotee: My kids are manga addicts.

   She’s a real baseball addict.

   My kids are manga addicts.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to become physically or psychologically dependent on an addictive substance, as alcohol or a narcotic.

   The documentary claimed that the tobacco industry used marketing techniques to addict new generations of children.

2. to habituate or abandon (oneself) to something compulsively or obsessively: There was a lot of worry about children becoming addicted to video games.

   It can be hard to read a writer addicted to the use of high-flown language.

   There was a lot of worry about children becoming addicted to video games.

addict

verb

1. to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, esp a narcotic drug)

noun

1. a person who is addicted, esp to narcotic drugs

2. informal,  a person who is devoted to something

   a jazz addict

Sensitive Note

Drug and alcohol addiction was historically considered a moral failing, demonstrating a weakness of character. This disparaging connotation persists in the nouns addict and alcoholic , in spite of our evolving modern understanding of the problem. Addiction is the complicated result of genetic predisposition intersecting with dysfunctional behavior, neurochemical modification, environmental factors, and social influences. Many major medical associations treat addiction as a disease, in part because it is a chronic condition that is demonstrably present in a person’s neurophysiology. Medical professionals, specialists, and advocates in the addiction treatment and recovery community suggest using language that focuses on the whole person and specifically mentions addiction or addictive behaviors only when those details are relevant. As an alternative to calling someone an addict or alcoholic , describe that person as someone who is addicted to painkillers , an individual with drug addiction , a person who drinks alcohol excessively , or someone who uses amphetamines . Labels matter. People who have an addiction are human beings, first and foremost. They should not be reduced by the label addict or alcoholic to be defined by a single facet of their complex humanity.

Other Word Forms

• addicting adjective
• nonaddict noun
• nonaddicting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of addict¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin addictus “assigned, surrendered,” past participle of addīcere, equivalent to ad- “toward” + dic-, variant stem of dīcere “to fix, determine”; ad-

Word History and Origins

Origin of addict¹

C16: (as adj and as vb; n use C20): from Latin addictus given over, from addīcere to give one's assent to, from ad- to + dīcere to say

Example Sentences

You might think you aren’t phone addicted enough to need this, but chances are you have a loved one or two who could benefit.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The self-described caffeine addict drinks three or four coffees a day.

Read more on BBC

Upon arrival, attendees can pick out personality stickers with phrases like coffee addict, plant lover and early bird.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His teenage son is on Adderall and Zoloft after a turbulent childhood with an addicted mother.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I was just doing a show in London for five months and I’ve gotten very addicted to Jaffa Cakes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• devotee 
• enthusiast 
• fanatic 
• fiend 
• freak 
• hound 
• nut