sexual addiction: compulsively frequent reiteration of highly ritualized usage of the sex organs, under conditions of extreme specificity. The addiction is not to sex, generically, but to a particular animate or inanimate sexuoerotic stimulus, or type of stimulus, that is incorporated into the ritual activity. The activity itself may or may not qualify as paraphilic. The analogue of sexual addiction to a given stimulus is drinking addiction to alcohol, from which the concept derives. See also Sexaholics Anonymous.

Dictionary of Sexology Project: Main Index