-holic

suffix

Denotes one who has an addiction to or indulgence in the substance or activity of the stem word.

OriginEnglish alcoholic ← Middle English alcofol ← Medieval Latin alcoho →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

suffix

alternative -aholic · alternative -oholic

  1. Denotes one who has an addiction to or indulgence in the substance or activity of the stem word.

    Trump was also a horndog, a braggart, and a social-media-holic—just like voters were.

    2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties
  2. Denotes being addicted to or indulging in the substance or activity of the stem word.

Origin

  1. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  2. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  3. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  4. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  5. Medieval Latinalcoho
  6. Middle Englishalcofol
  7. Englishalcohol
  8. Englishalcoholic
  9. English-holic

Rebracketing of alcoholic.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

-holic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-holic

MLA

“-holic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-holic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-holic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-holic.

Source: -holic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.