alcohol use disorder

noun

variants or less commonly alcohol-use disorder
plural alcohol use disorders also alcohol-use disorders
: a medical condition characterized by a pattern of frequent and usually excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, by strong cravings for alcohol often accompanied by episodes of depression, anxiety, or distress, by symptoms (such as restlessness or sweating) of alcohol withdrawal, and by the impaired ability to stop or control the intake of alcohol despite adverse effects on one's work, school, or family obligations

Note: Alcohol use disorder ranges from mild to severe and is typically considered to encompass conditions also referred to as alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, and alcoholism.

Over the long term, teen alcohol use can interfere with normal brain development and can increase the chance that the teens will develop an alcohol use disorder later in life.—Cindy Kurman
About 40 to 50 soldiers assigned to Fort Meade are now undergoing treatment for alcohol use disorders.—Lisa Rhodes
An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, as the DSM-5, the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual, calls it. … Only about 15 percent of those with alcohol-use disorder are at the severe end of the spectrum. The rest fall somewhere in the mild-to-moderate range …—Gabrielle Glaser
—abbreviation AUD

Examples of alcohol use disorder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web More than 15% of young adults met the criteria for alcohol use disorder. —Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2024 However, since both are known to be severely under-reported during healthcare visits, the study couldn’t gauge how alcohol use disorders or vaping might contribute to COVID severity, Chen noted. —Kaitlin Sullivan, Health, 12 July 2024 To be diagnosed, children must meet Yale Food Addiction Scale criteria as stringent as any for alcohol use disorder or other addictions. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 27 June 2024 People with alcohol use disorder, hypothyroidism (having an underactive thyroid), or kidney conditions are more likely to experience calf pain. —Lindsay Curtis, Health, 7 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for alcohol use disorder 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'alcohol use disorder.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of alcohol use disorder was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near alcohol use disorder

alcohol of crystallization

alcohol use disorder

alcoholytic

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Cite this Entry

“Alcohol use disorder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alcohol%20use%20disorder. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.

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Medical Definition

alcohol use disorder

noun
variants also alcohol-use disorder
: a medical condition characterized by a pattern of frequent and usually excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, by strong cravings for alcohol often accompanied by episodes of depression, anxiety, or distress, by symptoms (such as restlessness or sweating) of alcohol withdrawal, and by the impaired ability to stop or control the intake of alcohol despite adverse effects on one's work, school, or family obligations

Note: Alcohol use disorder ranges from mild to severe and is typically considered to encompass conditions also referred to as alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, and alcoholism.

Alcohol use disorder, a problematic pattern of alcohol use accompanied by clinically significant impairment or distress, is present in up to 14% of US adults during a 1-year period, although only about 8% of affected individuals are treated in an alcohol treatment facility.—Henry R. Kranzler and Michael Soyka, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Despite physicians' awareness of the importance of screening and probing for alcohol use disorders, one problem that might explain the failure of screening to become routine could be that physicians "aren't sure what to do once they obtain a history" that suggests a problem, Dr. [Keith A.] Nichols said.—Naseem S. Miller, Internal Medicine News
An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, as the DSM-5, the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual, calls it. … Only about 15 percent of those with alcohol-use disorder are at the severe end of the spectrum. The rest fall somewhere in the mild-to-moderate range …—Gabrielle Glaser, The Atlantic
—abbreviation AUD
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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