SHOPAHOLIC

noun (Lifestyle and Leisure) (People and Society) Colloquially, a compulsive shopper. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -aholic (as in workaholic, ultimately on the model of alcoholic) to the verb shop. History and Usage: The phenomenon of the shopaholic and the associated social problem of shopaholism, or compulsive shopping, came to light as a result of the credit boom of the early eighties and were first so named in the US during the mid eighties. Both terms have remained predominantly American, although the problem they describe is not limited to the US. Shopaholic is a considerably better-known word than shopaholism. [The rumour] that Diana is a 'shopaholic'...was described as 'absolute rubbish'. Washington Post 11 Sept. 1984, section C, p. 3 Shopaholism has been described as being like alcoholism, affecting people from all walks of life...One finance adviser said some consumers who rang up huge credit card bills, far above their financial limit, knew how to budget but simply did not want to. Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 22 Mar. 1987, p. 39 Studies show that perhaps as many as 24 million Americans, fully 10% of the population, can be classified as 'hard-core shoppers'. These shopaholics shop for shopping's sake. Forbes 11 Jan. 1988, p. 40