瘾

• Pinyin: yǐn
• Hanzi breakdown: 瘾 = 疒 (illness radical — disease, ailment) + 隐 (hidden/latent — concealed compulsion)

Meaning

Addiction; craving; strong habitual desire. An intense, hard-to-resist urge toward a substance, behaviour, or activity.

Covers both substance addiction (烟瘾 — nicotine addiction, 酒瘾 — alcohol addiction) and behavioural addictions (网瘾 — internet addiction, 购物瘾 — shopping addiction). In colloquial speech, 过瘾 (to satisfy a craving, to get one's fill) is very common. 上瘾 (to become addicted) is the standard verbal phrase. Tone can range from clinical (addiction studies) to playful (I'm addicted to this show).

Examples

1. 世界卫生组织已将游戏瘾列为一种行为成瘾疾病，标准包括失控、优先游戏和持续沉迷。 The World Health Organization has classified gaming addiction as a behavioral disorder, with criteria including loss of control, prioritizing games, and continued obsession.
2. 他承认自己对咖啡因上了瘾，每天早晨不喝两杯浓缩咖啡就会头痛，这是五年前备考时开始的。 He admitted that he is addicted to caffeine; if he does not drink two espressos each morning, he gets a headache. It started when he was studying intensely five years ago.
3. 政策制定者越来越清楚，单靠意志力对抗瘾有限，戒瘾方案必须结合神经干预、心理治疗和环境重塑。 Policymakers are increasingly clear that willpower alone has limits in fighting addiction, so treatment plans must combine neural intervention, psychotherapy, and environmental change.

Usage Guide

Context: health, psychology, social commentary, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 社交媒体的点赞反馈会刺激奖赏回路，让人形成类似轻度成瘾物质的强化效应，不知不觉就对刷新上了瘾。(The like feedback on social media stimulates reward circuits, creating reinforcement effects similar to those of mild addictive substances, so people gradually become addicted to refreshing the feed.)
• 这部悬疑剧的吸引力远超娱乐消遣，每集结尾都留悬念，让他根本停不下来，连续三个周末都追完了整季，上瘾了。(The appeal of this mystery series goes far beyond simple entertainment; each episode ends on a cliffhanger, so he cannot stop watching and finished the whole season over three straight weekends, completely hooked.)

Don't Say

• 他有一个瘾学习 — 瘾 takes a compound form such as 学习瘾 or 对学习上瘾 — do not use 有一个瘾 followed by a bare verb; the correct collocation is 对某事上瘾 or 某事瘾 as a noun compound

Origin & History

瘾 = 疒 (illness radical — bed with a sick person; disease, ailment) + 隐 (hidden/latent — concealed; a hidden, recurring inner compulsion); together: 'a hidden, recurring ailment' — a compulsion that recurs from within

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal