Phrase guide

Internet addiction disorder

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A disorder characterized by excessive Internet use that interferes with daily life.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: medicine, neurology, neuroscience, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Internet addiction disorder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First used in 1995 by Dr. Ivan K. Goldberg as a joke to parody the complexity and rigidity of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but was shortly thereafter legitimized in some spaces as an actual disorder.