Addictive or Addicting?

[JackWilson]

So which is the correct one? I know dictionary.com recognizes "addicting" but Collins and Oxford don't. Is this a US vs UK thing?

[2+2 wannabe]

[ QUOTE ]
So which is the correct one? I know dictionary.com recognizes "addicting" but Collins and Oxford don't. Is this a US vs UK thing?

[/ QUOTE ]

you know, I was going to do this exact poll after reading a thread last night - don't remember which one it was though

that being said, I think it sounds stupid when people say addicting

[Tailgunner]

Addictive is an adjective, addicting is a transitive verb.

[Claunchy]

[ QUOTE ]
Addictive is an adjective, addicting is a transitive verb.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, addict's the transitive verb. Addicting is the gerund form of it. While it is a correct word, it is incorrectly used as a synonym of addictive.

What I'm having a hard time thinking of is a correct example of the word addicting. One of you English major types help me out here.

[JackWilson]

[ QUOTE ]
Addictive is an adjective, addicting is a transitive verb.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm talking about its use like this:

"Nicotine is very addicting/addictive"

What you're saying, if I understand correctly, is that the two are used as follows:

"Nicotine is an addictive drug"
"Nicotine is very addicting"

And they're not interchangeable?

[smokingrobot]

sometimes the OED and other established dictionaries will put false words in their listing... forget where i read it, but dictionary.com got caught adding it to their database.