Workaholics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who exhibit an obsessive commitment to their job, often to the detriment of personal relationships and health
2. People characterized by an overwhelming dedication to work, frequently sacrificing leisure and personal well-being for professional tasks
3. Persons who are excessively involved in their occupations, generally neglecting rest and social activities due to their labor-driven lifestyle

Etymology: Workaholic was coined as a playful imitation of "alcoholic," with "work" substituted for the drinking. The "-aholic" ending is a clipped piece of "alcoholic," which itself passed through Medieval Latin "alcohol," borrowed from Arabic "kuḥl," a word for a fine powder used as eye cosmetic. The sense of "alcohol" as a distilled spirit came much later, so the word that inspired workaholic originally pointed to something far removed from drink. The modern "-aholic" ending therefore carries an old chain of borrowings, from Akkadian and Aramaic through Arabic and Latin, before it was attached to a word about labor. Once "alcoholic" had settled into English as a term for a person dependent on drink, the suffix became detachable, and English speakers began attaching it to other things people could be compulsively addicted to. The result is a word whose ending describes compulsion rather than any particular substance. "Work" is the simple English noun, so the whole formation is a blend of a native word and a borrowed suffix, shaped by analogy rather than by any direct Latin or Greek source.

Synonyms: overachievers, drudges

Antonyms: slackers, idlers