Addictive

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əˈdɪktɪv/

Definitions

1. Causing a condition where one feels an intense craving that leads to persistent involvement despite adverse outcomes
2. Characterized by the tendency to foster a compulsive attachment or habit that can detrimentally impact physical or mental health
3. Producing a powerful urge that encourages repeated use or engagement despite negative effects

Etymology: "Addictive" is a plain formation from "addict" plus the suffix "-ive," meaning having the quality or tendency of the base. The sense that matters here, of a substance or habit that fosters compulsive dependence, grew out of the noun "addiction," which English speakers began using in this modern sense around 1906, when it was applied to opium. The adjective followed: its first recorded use dates from 1914. The older roots of "addict" run back to Latin "addicere," meaning to say or assign to, as in handing someone over to a master or creditor. That legal sense of surrender or devotion is what the word carried for centuries before anyone thought of it in terms of drugs or habits. An isolated earlier instance from 1779 applied the noun to tobacco, but it was the opium context of the early twentieth century that gave the word its lasting meaning.

Synonyms: habit-forming, compulsive, obsessive, enthralling, engaging

Antonyms: non-addictive, deterrent, unappealing, disengaging, boredom-inducing