Kilo Lingo

(shàng yǐn) - to become addicted, to be addicted in Mandarin

shàngyǐn

Traditional: 上癮

#5591 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to become addicted, to be addicted

Stroke order

Stroke order for 上

Stroke order for 瘾

Examples

He's become addicted to mobile games.

Smoking is very easy to get addicted to.

I've become addicted to this milk tea.

Once you're addicted, it's hard to quit.

She says she's a bit addicted to shopping.

上瘾 (shàngyǐn) means "to become addicted" or "to be addicted". 上 (shàng) here works like "to catch, to develop" rather than its usual "up, onto", and 瘾 (yǐn) means "addiction, craving" - the character carries the sickness radical 疒, a hint that it originally described a compulsive illness.

The pattern to learn is 对...上瘾 (duì...shàngyǐn), "addicted to...": 他对游戏上瘾了 (tā duì yóuxì shàngyǐn le), "he's become addicted to games", puts the thing someone is hooked on after 对 (duì) rather than treating 上瘾 (shàngyǐn) as a verb that takes a direct object.

It covers substances as readily as habits: smoking, sugar, phones and shopping are all common things people are described as 上瘾 (shàngyǐn) to, which is why it pairs naturally with 戒 (jiè), "to quit" - 戒烟 (jièyān), "quit smoking", is the cure for having 上瘾 (shàngyǐn) to cigarettes in the first place.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

上瘾: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "上瘾" (to become addicted, to be addicted): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 109.