Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
retail therapy en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Meanings
-
(humorous, uncountable) Shopping that is done purely for pleasure, especially as a distraction from personal difficulties or disappointments.
This vicious cycle, "the loneliness loop," has been studied by economists for more than a decade. But surely, if retail therapy can be medicine, there must be a way for shopping to make us feel less lonely, right?
2013 August 7, Derek Thompson, “The Loneliness Loop: Why Feeling Sad Makes Us Shop and Shopping Makes Us Sad”, in The Atlantic: