alcoholism
pronunciation
How to pronounce alcoholism in British English:
UK [ˈælkəhɒlɪzəm]
How to pronounce alcoholism in American English:
US [ˈælkəhɔlɪzəm]
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- Noun:
- Habitual intoxication; prolonged and excessive intake of alcoholic drinks leading to a breakdown in health and an addiction to alcohol such that abrupt deprivation leads to severe withdrawal symptoms
- an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess
Word Origin
- alcoholism (n.)
- "disease of alcohol addiction," 1852, from alcohol + -ism, or else from Modern Latin alcoholismus, coined in 1852 by Swedish professor of medicine Magnus Huss (1807-1890) to mean what we now would call "alcohol poisoning." In earlier times, alcoholism would have been habitual drunkenness or some such term.
Example
- 1. Diseases like alcoholism are no one 's fault .
- 2. Disulfiram won 't cure alcoholism , nor can it remove the compulsion to drink .
- 3. Few companies have an official policy on alcoholism .
- 4. Alcoholism too plagued the village .
- 5. At least a third of adults suffer from diabetes and alcoholism is common .