Addiction

This addiction vocabulary lesson will help you use the words addiction, addict, quit, give up, high, habit, hooked, craving, urge, compulsive and withdrawal symptoms, correctly.

(an) addiction  noun  the need or strong desire to do or to have something

  • He plays computer games every night – it is like an addiction to him.

 

(an) addict  noun  a person who takes illegal or harmful drugs and cannot stop

  • She has been a drug addict for nearly two years.

 

give up  phrasal verb  to stop doing something

  • He finally gave up smoking marijuana six months ago.

 

quit  verb  informal way of saying ‘give up’

  • I wish you would quit smoking.

 

(a) high  noun  the feeling given by drugs or alcohol

  • Those drugs give her a big high – she will be dancing all night.

 

(a) habit  noun  something that you do often and is hard to give up

  • His habit was taking little green and white pills every morning before breakfast.

 

hooked  adjective  unable to stop doing something

  • He is so hooked on heroin that he doesn’t care about anything else.

 

(a) craving  noun  a very strong feeling of wanting something

  • Her craving for alcohol will probably kill her.

 

(an) urge  noun  a strong feeling that is difficult to control of wanting or needing to do something

  • It is very difficult for him to control his urge for a drink in the morning.

 

compulsive  adjective  used about a person who has a habit they cannot control

  • She is a compulsive user of Facebook – sad.

 

(–) withdrawal symptoms  plural noun  the unpleasant effects suffered by someone who stops taking a drug that they are addicted to

  • When you stop taking drugs the withdrawal symptoms often include depression.

 

Now watch the video lesson and then do the addiction vocabulary exercise