comfort eating

American

[kuhm-fert ee-ting] / ˈkʌm fərt ˌi tɪŋ /

noun

emotional eating, especially as a response to sad, depressing, or upsetting feelings or experiences.

Cake and bread are my go-to for comfort eating when I am down.

Etymology

Origin of comfort eating

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

comfort eating

We see a potent metaphor for the fourth sign of the zodiac in the Mono Silver Zeug cutlery set — a shiny smattering of tools for that sacred source of comfort: eating.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2024

The soundtrack indicates that this is not a case of stress or comfort eating, but an act of joy.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2023

They said this may help explain why comfort eating is common, and why stress in particular increases human desire to eat highly palatable high-sugar foods, even when not hungry.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2023

Snacking and comfort eating were given as the main contributor by about half of those who said they were fatter.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2021

Downstairs, Diana and her witnesses were lolling about in comfort, eating and drinking the results of a MacDonald's run that Roz and Helen had made.

From Wild Justice by Ruth M. Sprague

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023