addictive

adjective

ad·​dic·​tive ə-ˈdik-tiv 

a-

: causing or characterized by addiction

an addictive drug

an addictive personality

Synonyms of addictive

• addicting

Examples of addictive in a Sentence

highly addictive drugs like crack and heroin

the addictive thrill of surfing

Recent Examples on the Web

Jury selection is set to kick off Wednesday in the latest high-stakes trial over claims Meta, the tech giant behind Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, designed its apps to be addictive for young users. — ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026

The commonwealth also accuses TikTok of intentionally designing a platform to be addictive to young people with an infinite scroll that in turn helps the company's bottom line but at the cost of children's mental well-being and development. — Lauren Linder, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026

The plaintiffs allege that addictive algorithms and a lack of guardrails around harmful online content have led to a rise in depression, anxiety, and body image issues. — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 11 Aug. 2026

But no comparable infrastructure exists to probe whether social media is addictive and how that addiction might be identified and treated, nor is there government funding to support it. — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

addict entry 2 + -ive

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for addictive

• constrictive
• predictive
• restrictive
• vindictive
• magnetostrictive

Kids Definition

addictive

adjective

ad·​dic·​tive ə-ˈdik-tiv 

a-

: causing or characterized by addiction

an addictive drug

an addictive game

Medical Definition

addictive

adjective

ad·​dic·​tive ə-ˈdik-tiv 

: causing or characterized by addiction

addictive drugs

Legal Definition

addictive

adjective

ad·​dic·​tive ə-ˈdik-tiv 

: causing or characterized by addiction

addictive drugs