What does chocoholic mean?
A chocoholic is a person who has an intense, sometimes seemingly uncontrollable fondness for chocolate. The word blends 'chocolate' with the suffix from 'alcoholic' and is firmly informal and humorous: people use it to describe themselves or others affectionately, as in 'I'm a total chocoholic' or 'this cake is for the chocoholics among us.' It first appeared in American English in the mid-20th century and quickly became one of the most successful examples of the playful '-aholic' pattern, which later produced words such as 'workaholic' and 'shopaholic.' Although the term jokingly implies addiction, it does not denote a genuine medical or psychological disorder; it simply signals enthusiastic consumption. Chocoholic is widely understood throughout the English-speaking world and appears frequently in advertising, food writing, and everyday conversation.
nounA person who is excessively fond of chocolate; someone with a compulsive craving for it.
- A person who is extremely fond of or addicted to eating chocolate.
"A self-confessed chocoholic, she could never walk past the patisserie without buying a box of truffles."
"My sister is such a chocoholic that her pantry is stocked with nothing but cocoa-based treats."
"The gift hamper, billed as 'for the serious chocoholic', contained five different varieties of dark chocolate."
Standard regular plural; used naturally when referring to multiple chocolate enthusiasts.
"The bakery's new brownie was an instant hit among the office's resident chocoholics."
Despite the '-holic' ending, chocoholism isn't real addiction science — but the word was so irresistible it spawned an entire family of '-aholic' coinages like 'workaholic' and 'shopaholic'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chocoholic
Chocoholic was coined in English in the mid-20th century (first attested around the 1960s) by blending 'chocolate' with the tail of 'alcoholic.' The word rides on the perceived similarity between craving chocolate and alcohol dependence, though purely in jest. Its success helped popularise the productive '-aholic'/'-holic' suffix in English, seen later in words like 'workaholic' and 'shopaholic,' which themselves derive from the same model.
Related word forms
How chocoholic is actually used
Chocoholic is informal and playful in tone, almost always used affectionately or self-deprecatingly rather than as a serious diagnosis. It carries no strong negative connotation; describing oneself as a chocoholic is often a lighthearted confession of indulgence.
Easily confused with chocoholic
An alcoholic suffers from alcohol dependence, whereas a chocoholic merely craves chocolate — the latter is humorous and informal, not a clinical condition.