kick the habit

IPA/kˈɪk ðə hˈabɪt/
IPA/kˈɪk ðə hˈæbɪt/

kick the habit — 慣用語

1. to stop doing something that has become a regular and harmful part of your life,

1.慣用語B2
釋義

戒掉習慣

停止長期的成癮或不良習慣

to stop doing something that has become a regular and harmful part of your life, such as smoking, drinking, or other addictive behaviors, often requiring consistent effort over time.

例句

After smoking for ten years, Mei-Lin finally kicked the habit with her doctor's help.

抽了十年菸之後，Mei-Lin 終於在醫師幫助下戒掉這個習慣。

collocation: kick + the habit (quitting an addiction)

Gabriel checked his phone constantly, so he kicked the habit with an app timer.

Gabriel 一直不停地看手機，所以他用手機計時器戒掉這個習慣。

同義詞
  • give up

    more neutral and general; less vivid than the idiom

  • quit

    direct and common; used for both substances and activities

  • break a habit

    similar meaning but emphasizes the deliberate act of stopping

反義詞
  • fall off the wagon

    opposite meaning — to start drinking or using again after a period of quitting

  • take up

    to start a new habit, often one that is unhealthy

文法句型

kick + the + habit

kick + the + habit + of + gerund

用法筆記

Frequently refers to addictive behaviors (smoking, drinking, drugs) but can extend to everyday routines (snacking, social media). The phrase is fixed — 'kick a habit' may refer to a specific routine rather than a general addiction.

常見錯誤

❌I kicked my cigarette habit.
✅I kicked the habit of smoking.
💡The idiom prefers 'the habit of + [action]' rather than pairing a noun directly after 'habit'.
❌She kicked her habit.
✅She kicked the habit.
💡The determiner is almost always 'the', not a possessive pronoun, because the fixed phrase is 'kick the habit'.