addiction
Americannoun
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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.
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See more at withdrawal
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A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling.
Sensitive Note
See addict.
Other Word Forms
- overaddiction noun
Etymology
Origin of addiction
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin addictiōn- (stem of addictiō ) “a giving over, surrender”; addict, -ion
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.
A psychiatrist and an attorney in San Diego say an existing statute could address severe mental illness and addiction.
From Los Angeles Times
Meta has so far argued that Kaley's excessive use of Instagram was not an addiction and that their platform was not to blame for her ensuing mental health problems.
From BBC
I was struck over and over by similarities between their times and ours, including: countrywide divisions, political name-calling, competing media outlets, new technologies, conspiracy theories, an addiction crisis, a pandemic, and the emphasis on fame.
From Literature
Burke told the court that social-media addiction isn’t listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, typically used by clinicians to diagnose mental illness.
Becker and Murphy’s 1988 theory of rational addiction shows that addicts respond far more to permanent price changes than to temporary ones.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
