Attic and addict are words that are close in spelling and pronunciation and may be considered confusables. We will examine the different meanings of the confusables attic and addict, the word origins of the terms, and some examples of their English usage in sentences.
An attic is a room or space at the top of a house or building, just under the roof. Synonyms for attic are garret and mansard. An attic may be a livable area like a room or an apartment, or it may be a space that is only suitable for storage purposes. The word attic only came into use at the turn of the nineteenth century, as an abbreviation of the architectural term, attic story.
An addict is someone who is compelled to use an illegal substance or to partake in a particular activity; an addict finds it almost impossible to refrain from partaking in his substance or activity of choice. The word addict only came into use at the turn of the twentieth century, as a back-formation from the verb addicted.
Examples
Fire damaged a Studio City home early Saturday morning, burning in the attic, walls and floor before being extinguished by firefighters in 32 minutes. (L.A. Daily News)
Lo and behold, a trio of blue ceramic pieces from a nativity scene stared up at me, barely protected from the elements of the attic as they were uncharacteristically unwrapped and just sitting in a box without a top. (Mason City Globe Gazette)
I found the 12 steps of addiction recovery in a way many addicts do: lost, desperate, broken, and looking for change. (Newsweek)
A recovering drug addict is backing the Daily Record calls for the creation of legal drug consumption rooms as Scotland’s drugs death continue to rise. (Scottish Daily Record)