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shopaholic

American  
[shop-uh-haw-lik, -hol-ik] / ˌʃɒp əˈhɔ lɪk, -ˈhɒl ɪk /

noun

Informal.
  1. a frequent shopper, especially one who is unable to control their spending.


shopaholic British  
/ ˌʃɒpəˈhɒlɪk /

noun

  1. informal a compulsive shopper

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of shopaholic

First recorded in 1970–75; shop + -aholic

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.

Lucy Britnell, a self-confessed "shopaholic" from Teesside, has paid for a premier Asos account since 2018, which gives customers free delivery - but has now been banned.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2025

“We joke that we’re like ‘Legally Blonde,’” she says of the Reese Witherspoon comedy about a shopaholic turned underestimated law school student.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2021

A full 25 years after she starred in the era-defining "Clueless," Alicia Silverstone is still inexorably associated with the sweet shopaholic Cher Horowitz.

From Salon • Apr. 17, 2020

Left: “I was such a shopaholic as a child. Any time we went to a museum, I’d always ask, ‘Is there a gift shop?’

From New York Times • Apr. 9, 2018

No, this is a different kind of frenzied state than you’d find during a genuine catastrophe—less frightened than nervously excited, not so much survivalist as shopaholic.

From Slate • Jan. 26, 2015

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