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Addict
Also written: Junkie
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At a glance
Source-by-source
“Terms such as "addict" or "drug abuser" should generally not be used as nouns. Avoid identifying individuals with their disease. "She had a heroin addiction" is preferable to "she was a heroin addict."”
Of the four sources, GCJT is the one that frames the rule as a disease-identity principle: the objection is to collapsing a person into their condition as a noun, which is why it keeps the condition ("addiction") while rejecting the label ("addict").
“It is preferable to refer to someone who harmfully uses drugs as "someone with a drug addiction" rather than an "addict." … Avoid "alcoholic", "addict", "user" and "abuser" unless individuals prefer those terms for themselves or if they occur in quotations or names of organizations …”
NCDJ — the chapter's anchor source — is the entry that carries the AP-aligned avoid list ("alcoholic," "user," and "abuser" alongside "addict") and the two carve-outs the other sources mostly omit: a person's own self-identification, and fixed proper names — the "A" in Alcoholics Anonymous is not edited out.
“Term to avoid: addict. Suggested alternatives: person who injects drugs / person with substance use disorder.”
APA's term-to-avoid table lists "addict" (alongside "alcoholic" and "drug user/abuser"), prescribing the person-first "person with substance use disorder" or "person who injects drugs" instead.
“The American Psychiatric Association recommends avoiding the term addict, suggesting instead the phrase "someone experiencing a drug/alcohol problem." The association also discourages using the term junkie, which specifically refers to someone who misuses heroin.”
DSG is the only entry here citing the American Psychiatric Association (not the Psychological, the source most others lean on) and the only one that singles out "junkie" — flagging it as the narrower, harsher label specific to heroin use rather than addiction generally.
Synthesis
The label “addict” is rejected across the corpus; the condition term “addiction” is not. This page covers the noun — the word applied to a person — while its companion page, addiction, covers the condition itself. All four sources reject “addict” as a noun. GCJT’s principle is not to identify a person with their disease (“she had a heroin addiction,” not “she was a heroin addict”); NCDJ — the chapter’s anchor — and the Diversity Style Guide prefer “someone with a drug addiction”; and APA’s term-to-avoid table prescribes “person with substance use disorder.” All four use person-first phrasing: name the condition a person has rather than collapsing the person into it.
The same rejection extends to the related labels. Following AP, NCDJ folds in “alcoholic,” “user,” and “abuser”; the Diversity Style Guide and NCDJ both single out “junkie” — which the American Psychiatric Association discourages — as a narrower, harsher term for someone who uses heroin.
NCDJ gives two exceptions: a person’s own self-identification, and direct quotation or organization names (the “A” in Alcoholics Anonymous is not edited). APA likewise holds that an individual’s own preference supersedes style. The guidance is stable from 2021 through 2023. This page pairs with addiction and mental health.
Audience notes
- Journalists and editors. “Person with a drug addiction” or “person with a substance use disorder,” never “addict,” “junkie,” “alcoholic,” “user,” or “abuser” — unless the person uses the term for themselves, or it appears in a quote or an organization’s name.
- Advocates and internal comms. Name the condition, not the person. “Junkie” is the harshest term in the cluster; avoid it outright.
- Self-identification governs. Some people in recovery do claim “addict” (as in AA’s “I’m an alcoholic”). When you know a person’s own usage, follow it.
Related terms