Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1968
Workaholic
work alcoholic
- Meaning
- A person compulsively addicted to work.
- Source words
- work + alcoholic
- Coined by
- Wayne Oates
- Year
- 1968
Background
Coined by Oates, a Baptist minister and pastoral counsellor, in a magazine article framed as a confession. Spawned a family of "-aholic" suffixes (shopaholic, chocoholic) — though the original joke required the base to be a substance.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.