alcoholism
noun
Simple meaning
A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
alkuhhawlihzuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈælkəhɔlɪzəm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.
pathology
Acute alcohol poisoning.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Formality
- Technical
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.
Used this way, alcoholism is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It turns up most in medicine or healthcare contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
Nearby words
- dipsomania , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic drinks.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Dementia observed during the last stages of severe chronic alcoholism.
Dementia observed during the last stages of severe chronic alcoholism.
An international organization that provides a support group for persons trying to overcome alcoholism.
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