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Fleogan Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

addicting

Is 'addicting' a word? In any situation where someone uses it, shouldn't it be 'addictive'? I see people using the word all the time, but it's not in any dictionary that I've seen, so I just wondered why I see it so often.

Thanks
  

Top answer

Hi, Is 'addicting' a word? In any situation where someone uses it, shouldn't it be 'addictive'? I see people using the word all the time, but it's not in any dictionary that I've seen, so I just wondered why I see it so often.

  • Hi, Is 'addicting' a word?
  • In any situation where someone uses it, shouldn't it be 'addictive'?
  • I see people using the word all the time, but it's not in any dictionary that I've seen, so I just wondered why I see it so often.
  • The verb 'addict' exists, so I see no reason why you can't make a present participle/adjective out of it if you want to.
  • On the other hand, 'addictive' is a perfectly good word.
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7 Answers
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Hi,

Is 'addicting' a word? In any situation where someone uses it, shouldn't it be 'addictive'? I see people using the word all the time, but it's not in any dictionary that I've seen, so I just wondered why I see it so often.

The verb 'addict' exists, so I see no reason why you can't make a present participle/adjective out of it if you want to. On th
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My tenth grade English teacher would always have a conniption if we used "addicting" and "deceiving" instead of "addictive" and "deceptive."
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Addicting is a legitimate word, in fact, additive is more common.

Example:

Tobacco is highly addictive.
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I totally agree with you! The Americans seem to use it a lot. The correct usage is "addictive games" not "addicting games". This is an Americanism. However, as they are taking over the world, wot der hel!

Also, the funny thing is, if you put a search in Google for "addicting games" there is even a website called this!

Here is another thing, if you put the word "addicting" on a wo
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Check out this link. http://dionidium.com/2006/02/addicting
It describes the correct usage of the word addicting. It is actually a word, although it is not an adjective. The way that is most commonly used is incorrect.

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Addictive is the correct word. You should always use the word addictive and not addicting. Addicting makes you sound badly educated. Just because addicting is in an online dictionary does not make it a real or correct word. This usage has most likely come from non-native English speakers or younger kids.
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try going on your myspace or a public forum and making a stance about it. Most likely, everyone who sees it will spew out ridiculous arguments. It is quite fun to watch.

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