Meaning & use
workaholic
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
Someone who feels driven to work all the time and finds it hard to stop or relax.
Grammar: Countable and informal: she is a workaholic; they are workaholics.
Patterns
- be a workaholic
- a self-confessed workaholic
My brother is a workaholic who answers emails at midnight.
As a self-confessed workaholic, she felt guilty on vacation.
The company's workaholics rarely took lunch breaks.
adjectivebefore a nouninformal
Showing a compulsive habit of working too much.
Grammar: Used before a noun: a workaholic lifestyle; less common than the noun.
Patterns
- a workaholic tendency
- workaholic habits
His workaholic habits left little time for friends.
She blamed her workaholic father for missing the school play.
A workaholic culture can burn out even the best staff.
Word forms
| plural | workaholics |
|---|
Common combinations
- self-confessed workaholic
- The self-confessed workaholic answered emails on the beach.
- recovering workaholic
- He calls himself a recovering workaholic since he started taking weekends off.
- a born workaholic
- My aunt is a born workaholic.
- workaholic tendencies
- Her workaholic tendencies worried her doctor.
- workaholic lifestyle
- A workaholic lifestyle can damage family life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overachiever
- An overachiever does better than expected, often in school, but not necessarily by working compulsively.
- grafter
- A grafter is a British informal word for a very hard worker, and it is a compliment, unlike workaholic which suggests a problem.
- drudge
- A drudge does dull, tiring work, usually because they have to, whereas a workaholic works too much by choice.
- hard worker
- A hard worker is simply diligent, while a workaholic cannot stop and may harm health or relationships.
Opposites
Word family
- workaholism noun
- the habit of working compulsively
- work noun
- effort used to do or make something
- alcoholic noun
- the word that the second part of workaholic imitates
- shopaholic noun
- someone who shops compulsively, formed in the same way
Commonly confused: workaholic or hard worker?
workaholic vs hard worker
A hard worker is admired for effort; a workaholic works to an unhealthy degree and often cannot switch off.
Practice
Maria checks her messages at 2 a.m. and never takes vacations; her friends say she is a ______.
Choose one answer.
A workaholic works compulsively and cannot relax. A freelancer or retiree describes a work status, and a daydreamer is the opposite of someone who never stops working.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “workaholic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.