addiction

B2 Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /əˈdɪkˌʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #7818

Meanings

1

noun
the condition of not being able to stop taking a drug or doing something harmful

He sought help to overcome his addiction to alcohol.
2

noun
a very strong desire or need for something

Her addiction to chocolate is well known among her friends.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the condition of not being... dependence dependency habituation

Word family

Forms addictions

Derived forms addiction-likeaddictionlikeaddictionologyantiaddictioncyberaddictiondeaddictionmulti-addictionmultiaddictionoveraddictionpolyaddictionpseudoaddictionreaddiction

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

heroin addiction
dependence on heroin that involves a strong compulsion to use it

Noun + noun

Etymology

From addict + -ion; compare (Latin) addictio (“an adjudging, an award”).

*deyḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# addiction

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈdɪkˌʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 7818

## Meanings
1. the condition of not being able to stop taking a drug or doing something harmful
2. a very strong desire or need for something

## Examples
- He sought help to overcome his addiction to alcohol.
- Her addiction to chocolate is well known among her friends.

## Derived Forms
- addiction-like
- addictionlike
- addictionology
- antiaddiction
- cyberaddiction
- deaddiction
- multi-addiction
- multiaddiction
- overaddiction
- polyaddiction
- pseudoaddiction
- readdiction

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *deyḱ-

## Etymology
From addict + -ion; compare (Latin) addictio (“an adjudging, an award”).

## AI Etymology
Addiction is from addict plus -ion; compare (Latin) addictio (“an adjudging, an award”). The historical chain also includes Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-. The formation is semantically transparent: the parts remain visible, while the compound or affix fixes the grammatical role and narrows the modern meaning. In use as a noun, addiction denotes the condition of not being able to stop taking a drug or doing something harmful and a very strong desire or need for something. The same word family continues in derived forms such as addiction-like, addictionlike, addictionology, and antiaddiction.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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