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Glite Dictionary
to kick the habit

to kick the habit

5 4.2
Stop doing something bad you do often, for example smoking
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : dejar el hábito
  • After years of smoking, she finally decided to kick the habit for her health.
  • help you kick the habit
  • try to kick the habit
  • finally kick the habit

Examples

  • The Social Security Assistance Office hopes to see more of Indiana's smokers kick the habit.

    Blog text (31)

  • He worked with a therapist to kick the habit of excessive drinking.

  • But perhaps it is time to kick the habit.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The quicker you can kick the habit, the better.

    Blog text (25)

  • Having these reminders is helping me to kick the habit of talking in a mean voice.

    Blog text (31)

  • If you are a smoker, work hard to kick the habit.

    Blog text (17)

  • My intention was for her to use the planned trip as a motivator to help her kick the habit.

    Blog text (29)

  • Every now and then I still feel the old urge, but overall, I think I've kicked the habit.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Peter Constantakes of the state Health Department argues that tax increases and other programs are helping people kick the habit.

    Blog text (6)

  • Possibly they need to have AA meetings, as in Alcoholics Anonymous, to help them kick the habit.

    Blog text (22)

Synonyms

to give it up
vsto kick the habit
683 3.7

To stop doing something you once did

targets stopping a difficult unwanted routine rather than any simple action
to quit
vsto kick the habit
668 1.0

To stop doing a habit or activity like smoking

focuses on stopping a hard ingrained routine rather than any activity
to break the cycle
vsto kick the habit
15 4.2

To stop a repeated harmful pattern by choosing to change

focuses on stopping a single difficult routine rather than broader repeated patterns
to go cold turkey
vsto kick the habit
  • Informal
7 8.2

Stop a habit or addiction all at once

can be gradual or planned rather than only sudden complete stops

Antonyms

to indulge
68 4.3

To allow yourself to enjoy something pleasant, often more than needed

How Habit-Free

to kick the habit
  • Informal
5 4.2
to quit
668 1.0
to cut down
65 2.7

Surface Forms

kick the habit infinitive
kicked the habit past
kicked the habit past participle
kicking the habit present participle
kicks the habit third person singular

Morphology

kick + the + habit

The verb 'kick' is used metaphorically here to mean 'forcefully get rid of' while 'habit' retains its literal meaning, so a learner who knows both words can often infer 'stop a habit' by extending the literal senses. However, the metaphorical extension of 'kick' is not completely predictable and depends on idiomatic usage, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The idiom kick the habit may come from the picture of someone giving a quick kick to push a bad habit away, as if sending it off their path. So it means 'to stop a bad habit'.