Tweaker

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A slang term for a person who is addicted to methamphetamine ; someone who fine-tunes or endlessly adjusts machines, software or engines to improve their performance
2. Slang for a drug user dependent on crystal meth ; a person who keeps making small refinements to a device, program or vehicle to optimize it
3. A person hooked on the stimulant methamphetamine, often displaying erratic behavior ; a hobbyist who obsessively tinkers with hardware, code or cars to squeeze out better results

Etymology: "Tweaker" is built from "tweak," a verb meaning to pinch, pull, or adjust something with a quick, small movement, plus the agent suffix "-er," so a tweaker is literally one who tweaks. The slang sense of "tweak" as a drug term is the more striking part: among methamphetamine users, to be "tweaking" means to be in the grip of the drug's jittery, restless state, and the noun came to name the person in that state. The link to the drug's effects is what gives the word its bite. Heavy users often fall into punding, a repetitive, purposeless fixation on small tasks such as taking things apart, rearranging objects, or picking at the skin. Those compulsive small movements are exactly what the verb already described, so the drug's slang took on the meaning of its most visible behavior.

Synonyms: fiddler, adjuster