A person addicted to drugs, especially heroin; someone with an obsessive interest in something.
Originally referred to people addicted to 'junk' (slang for heroin) in 1920s America. The term broadened to describe anyone with an obsessive interest by the 1960s, reflecting how addiction terminology entered mainstream culture.
The transformation of 'junkie' from a harsh medical term to a casual descriptor ('news junkie', 'coffee junkie') shows how language softens stigma through metaphorical extension. This linguistic shift reflects changing attitudes toward addiction as a medical rather than moral issue.
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