heroinware en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree German Heroinbor. English heroin Proto-Indo-European *sem- Proto-Germanic *samþuz /*samftuz Proto-Indo-European *-yos Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Germanic *-jaz Proto-West Germanic *-ī Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) Old English sōfte Middle English softe English soft Proto-Germanic *warō Proto-West Germanic *waru Old English waru Middle English ware English -ware English softwarebf. English -ware English heroinware From heroin + -ware.
Meanings
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(slang, uncountable) An addictive computer game, especially one played to the extent it interferes with the everyday life of the player.
Luckily, Jaffe found refuge and eventual salvation with On-Line Gamers Anonymous, one of several online self-help groups that have sprung up to deal with the fallout from electronic entertainment they call heroinware. Its forums are swollen with refugees of various online worlds, all with harrowing stories of runaway gaming habits, lives ruined, friends lost, marriages broken.
2003 April 3, David McCandless, “Just one more go…”, in The Guardian: