Addict

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈæd.ɪkt/

Definitions

1. An individual who compulsively relies on a particular substance or activity despite negative impacts
2. Someone who exhibits an uncontrollable craving for a specific behavior or substance even when it is damaging
3. A person who is habitually dependent on a drug or a specific activity and finds it difficult to stop despite harmful effects

Etymology: The most striking part of this word's story is how far it has drifted from its Roman legal meaning. In ancient Rome, an "addictus" was a debtor handed over to a creditor, who could keep him in bondage until the debt was repaid. The word came from "addicere," meaning to assign or surrender someone to another, built from "ad-" ("to, towards") and "dicere" ("say, declare"). The sense was of a formal pronouncement that transferred a person's control to someone else. English borrowed the Latin past participle directly, and for centuries the word kept that sense of being bound or devoted to something. Its modern meaning, a person who is dependent on a substance, emerged much later, when the idea of being given over to a habit took hold. The notion of surrender survives in the modern sense: the addict is still described as enslaved to something outside their own control.

Synonyms: dependent, user, junkie, enthusiast, devotee

Antonyms: abstainer, moderator, sober, non-user, disinterested