addiction

[uh-dik-shuh n]

See more synonyms for addiction on Thesaurus.com

noun

the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

Origin of addiction

1595–1605; < Latin addictiōn- (stem of addictiō) a giving over, surrender. See addict, -ion

Related formso·ver·ad·dic·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for addiction

shot, bent, bag, fixation, obsession, dependence, monkey, thing, enslavement, hang-up, hook, craving, kick, inclination, jones

Examples from the Web for addiction

Contemporary Examples of addiction

What made you want to write a memoir now about your “addiction” to film?
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire
William O’Connor
January 6, 2015
I had graduated NYU just a few years earlier and begun a career in publishing, but the addiction got the best of me.
A Million Ways to Die in Prison
Daniel Genis
December 8, 2014
The lure and addiction of gaming—which went back to pinball, of course—became a sensation with Asteroids.
‘Asteroids’ & The Dawn of the Gamer Age
David Owen
November 29, 2014
Those suffering from addiction in the streets risk disease, overdose, and death.
World Leaders' Proposal for Winning the War on Drugs: Legalize It!
Abby Haglage
September 9, 2014
Addiction is a human problem, and this is the Native American version of it.
Sherman Alexie on His New Film, the Redskins, and Why It's OK to Laugh at His Work
William O’Connor
August 22, 2014

Historical Examples of addiction

The vice of those dusky noblemen is their addiction to drink.
The Idler Magazine, Vol III. May 1893
Various
They call themselves practical for having an addiction to the palpable.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete
George Meredith
Its advertising invites to the formation of an addiction to the drug.
The Great American Fraud
Samuel Hopkins Adams
The dependence thus formed can easily deteriorate into addiction.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
The cause of this, I need hardly say, was his addiction to drinking.
Bentley's Miscellany, Volume II
Various

British Dictionary definitions for addiction

addiction

noun

the condition of being abnormally dependent on some habit, esp compulsive dependency on narcotic drugs

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for addiction

c.1600, "tendency," of habits, pursuits, etc.; 1640s as "state of being self-addicted," from Latin addictionem (nominative addictio) "an awarding, a devoting," noun of action from past participle stem of addicere (see addict). Earliest sense was less severe: "inclination, penchant," but this has become obsolete. In main modern sense it is first attested 1906, in reference to opium (there is an isolated instance from 1779, with reference to tobacco).

addiction in Medicine

addiction

[ə-dĭk′shən]

Habitual psychological or physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one's voluntary control.

addiction in Science

addiction

[ə-dĭk′shən]

A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses. See more at withdrawal.
A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling.