Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Causing or tending to cause addiction: an addictive substance.
- adj. Characterized by or susceptible to addiction: an addictive personality.
Wiktionary
- adj. Causing or tending to cause addiction; habit-forming.
- adj. Characterized by or susceptible to addiction.
- n. A drug that causes an addiction.
- n. Anything that is very habit-forming.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. causing or characterized by addiction
Etymologies
- First attested 1914. Addiction in modern sense is first attested 1906, in reference to opium. There is an isolated instance from 1779, with reference to tobacco. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“So, as you said, if you remove the term addictive from the equation, would people change their minds about the pill?”
“I have never heard the term addictive used to describe a non-harmful context.”
“In yoga, we call addictive behavior "samskara," or "ruts", and the more you practice the destructive ones, the more entrenched they will become.”
Sadie Nardini: Don't Be Like Mike: Bust Your Inner Addict and Be Free!
“Marijuana use is currently the leading cause of treatment need for those abusing or dependent on illegal drugs, is the second leading reason for drug-induced emergency room episodes, and has surpassed alcohol for young people in addictive risk and impact on dependency requiring treatment.”
On the Legalization — or Not — of Marijuana - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“A twelve-year-old girl was more blunt: "The word addictive comes to mind.”
"People are very cagey about saying anything that might give breastfeeding a bad name."
“A reasonable inference from Philip Morris's acknowledgment that the nicotine in cigarettes makes smoking addictive is that its product was consciously designed to induce cigarette dependency in the ordinary smoker, regardless whether any individual smoker becomes addicted to cigarettes.”
Mass. Supreme Judicial Court Bars Big Tobacco Defense: Can't Blame the Smoker
“All concur that smokeless tobacco products contain addictive levels of nicotine, many carcinogens, heavy metals, and other toxins, though recognizing that the levels of nicotine and toxins vary widely across products.”
“The cigarettes use “trionic” filters with three layers, each of which removes a different set of toxic compounds, while still allowing nicotine — the main addictive element in tobacco — to enter the lungs.”
“A minority of people have become known as addictive, compulsive or pathological gamblers because they are driven by an urge, the nature of which has given rise to much research and many publications, the Lotteries and Gambling Board says.”
“Peggle is one of the few games which the word addictive can legitimately be applied to.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘addictive’.
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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haguremetaru's Words
floozy, mandalay, mandible, x, don't, will, ridiculous, funily, stuff, junk, doody, manning and 152 more...
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Apples to Apples: Green Cards
A complete list of the green cards (adjectives) from the popular word game.
absurd, addictive, adorable, aged, American, ancient, animated, annoying, appetizing, arrogant, awesome, awkward and 237 more...
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tragedy of the commons
insomnia, arabesque, carousal, lucifer, riot, submerge, initiate, indigo, existence, magenta, opus, sleeplessness and 145 more...
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describe me
charming, afectionate, addictive, selfless, patience, drastic, fond, light-heeled, fragrant, delicate, care-free, natural and 95 more...
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Not NUXiY
What NUXiY isnt!
political correct, collectivist, gay, sexy, hot, sweet, orwellian, banana, fat, black, mainstream, feminist and 21 more...
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list for kristina
atmosphere, supper, fragrant, intonation, pacify, selfless, urban, distribution, innovation, quantities, tropical, drastic and 19 more...
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Adjectives That Describe Me
sympathetic, intense, passionate, depressed, pessimistic, moody, affectionate, compassionate, friendly, selective, stubborn, emotional and 22 more...
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malefic's Words
inimical, hateful, write, right, hostile, winchester, calibrate, victory, wrath, wrathful, letter, addictive and 12 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for addictive.
heatherpea using wordnik is not only fascinating but totally addictive for anyone that loves the english language! May 10, 2012
haguremetaru addictive: wow... just like wordie Dec 9, 2006