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.

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
The man's purplish red face, his heavy eyelids, the nervous twitchings, all spoke of his addiction to drink.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room|Gaston Leroux
No nation, indeed, can reproach another nation with its addiction to magic without in an equal degree condemning itself.
Magic and Witchcraft|Anonymous
Perhaps the ordinary public has seldom been more unjust than in its estimate of Coleridge's addiction to opium.
The Philosophy of Natural Theology|William Jackson
Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson
Addiction crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the richness of life to a single destructive desire.
Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to 2006|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

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).

Medicine definitions for addiction

addiction

[ə-dĭk′shən]

n.

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

Science definitions for addiction

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.

addiction

noun

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Origin of addiction

Examples from the Web for addiction

addiction

noun

addiction

addiction

n.

addiction