Synonyms

retail therapy

British

noun

humorous the action of shopping for clothes, etc, in order to cheer oneself up

"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

Example Sentences

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retail therapy

Sticking with what she knows best, Kris continued her real estate retail therapy in the Hidden Hills area, this time with her daughter Khloe.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

For Americans worried about the war in Iran, retail therapy doesn’t look like the answer.

From Barron's ● Mar. 14, 2026

Sip on boba at the park We might do some retail therapy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025

A friend and I had popped to the Westfield for an afternoon of retail therapy.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024

She always says that she’s having a bad month and she’ll make it up later, and she seems genuinely really stressed about money, but also she’s been doing a good amount of retail therapy.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2023

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