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I wasn't going to get such a nice car - I was going to get a cute little hybrid or something, keep the trees happy - but then my grandfather died, and it was all: retail therapy!
Chris Colfer

Meaning of "retail therapy" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF RETAIL THERAPY

retail therapy play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF RETAIL THERAPY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Retail therapy is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES RETAIL THERAPY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Retail therapy

Retail therapy is shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. Often seen in people during periods of depression or transition, it is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as "comfort buys". Retail therapy was first used as a term in the 1980s with the first reference being this sentence in the Chicago Tribune of Christmas Eve 1986: "We've become a nation measuring out our lives in shopping bags and nursing our psychic ills through retail therapy." In 2001, the European Union conducted a study finding that 33% of shoppers surveyed had "high level of addiction to rash or unnecessary consumption". This was causing debt problems for many. The same study also found that young Scottish people had the highest susceptibility to binge purchasing. Researchers at Melbourne University have advocated its classification as a psychological disorder called oniomania or compulsive shopping disorder.

Definition of retail therapy in the English dictionary

The definition of retail therapy in the dictionary is the action of shopping for clothes, etc, in order to cheer oneself up.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE RETAIL THERAPY

retail
retail banking
retail business
retail dealer
retail group
retail outlet
retail park
retail politics
retail price
retail price index
retail shop
retail trade
retailer
retailing
retailment
retailor
retain
retainable
retained earnings
retained object

WORDS THAT END LIKE RETAIL THERAPY

aromatherapy
chemotherapy
electroconvulsive therapy
family therapy
gene therapy
group therapy
hormone replacement therapy
hydrotherapy
hypnotherapy
immunotherapy
occupational therapy
pharmacotherapy
physical therapy
physiotherapy
phytotherapy
psychotherapy
radiation therapy
radiotherapy
speech therapy
therapy
triple combination therapy

Synonyms and antonyms of retail therapy in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «retail therapy» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF RETAIL THERAPY

Find out the translation of retail therapy to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of retail therapy from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «retail therapy» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

零售疗法
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

terapia de compras
570 millions of speakers

English

retail therapy
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

खुदरा थेरेपी
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

العلاج التجزئة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

розничная терапия
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

terapia de varejo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

খুচরা চিকিৎসা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

thérapie de détail
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Terapi runcit
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Einzelhandel Therapie
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

小売セラピー
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

소매 치료
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Therapy toko
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

liệu pháp bán lẻ
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

சில்லறை சிகிச்சை
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

किरकोळ थेरपी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Perakende tedavisi
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

terapia al dettaglio
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

terapia detalicznej
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

роздрібна терапія
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

terapie cu amănuntul
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

λιανική θεραπεία
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

kleinhandel terapie
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

shopping
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

detaljhandel terapi
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of retail therapy

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «RETAIL THERAPY»

The term «retail therapy» is regularly used and occupies the 55.211 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
74
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «retail therapy» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of retail therapy
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «retail therapy».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «RETAIL THERAPY» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «retail therapy» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «retail therapy» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about retail therapy

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «RETAIL THERAPY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word retail therapy.
1
Chris Colfer
I wasn't going to get such a nice car - I was going to get a cute little hybrid or something, keep the trees happy - but then my grandfather died, and it was all: retail therapy!
2
Anushka Sharma
I'm paranoid about shopping. I get irritable. I find it tedious and taxing. People say shopping is retail therapy, but I need therapy after shopping.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «RETAIL THERAPY»

Discover the use of retail therapy in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to retail therapy and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Retail Therapy: Life Lessons Learned While Shopping
An anecdotal look at the pleasures of shopping recounts the author's favorite experiences while explaining how shopping can enable readers to examine truths about their lives and develop an awareness of their decision-making processes.
Amanda Ford, 2002
2
Retail Therapy: Store Design Today
The projects in this book demonstrate contemporary trends in retail design, not just in merchandising, but storefronts, shop fittings, materials, layouts and the general look and feel of the space.
Andrea Boekel, 2007
3
Retail Therapy
With Party Girls, Roz Bailey took on sex and the city.
Roz Bailey, 2006
4
Retail Therapy: Making Strategic Relationships Work
This book takes you inside those strategic relationships and shows you how to redesign your business to get them right. Highlights include a new theory of brands which shows how customer loyalty and service can be transformed.
Rob Jones, Dan Murphy, 2003
5
Retail Therapy: A Qualitative Investigation and Scale ...
Through a detailed conceptual analysis of the two existing approaches to the study of retail therapy, the researcher articulated how these approaches are related.
Minjeong Kang, 2009
6
Fashion: The Industry and Its Careers
“We All Need a Little Retail Therapy; Interview with Brian Sugar” In mid-July, Sugar Inc. expanded its women's media network with the launch of its first social online game, called PopSugar's Retail Therapy. The online game made a strong  ...
Michele M. Granger, 2012
7
Consumer Behavior: Women and Shopping
There are several explanations for the Retail Therapy shopper's behavior. Retail Therapy occurs when a negative event (e.g., bad news, stress) is experienced, which results in a bad mood; to alleviate the bad mood, the individual goes ...
Patricia Huddleston, 2011
8
Retail Therapy: Store Design Today
店舗デザインは、客を惹きつける魅力の中で最も重要な要素の一つだ。見込み客に店内まで足を運んでもらうことが大切な第一歩であり、相応しい雰囲気を作り出すことは提供す ...
イメージズパブリッシンググループ, 2007
9
Handbook of Addictive Disorders: A Practical Guide to ...
So what could possibly be wrong with a bit of retail therapy? Why not buy things that make you feel special and distinctive, particularly after a bad day at work or a row at home? Retail therapy has become normalized in mass consumer ...
Robert Holman Coombs, 2004
10
Retail Therapy
Claire Sterding works for Hordling & Chambers, a business co-owned by her family; at least, that's what it's SUPPOSED to be, the reality is far more bleak.
Carla D. E. Godfrey, 2013

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «RETAIL THERAPY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term retail therapy is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Amy Childs helps Kellie Maloney expand her wardrobe with a spot …
Offering a helping hand, the red-head served as a personal shopper as the boxing promoter engaged in a spot of retail therapy. Amy was a walking promotion ... «Mirror.co.uk, Jul 15»
2
Cure the holiday blues with a dose of retail therapy
So us poor, lowly workers (who have only enough holidays to fill a month if we're lucky) and similarly poor, already exhausted parents are in need of a little retail ... «The Press, York, Jul 15»
3
[Markets & Merchants] Reasonable retail therapy at Yeongdeungpo …
A short stroll from the hustle and bustle of the glitzy mega shopping mall of Yeongdeungpo Times Square is a retail relief that couldn't be more opposite of ... «The Korea Herald, May 15»
4
Retail therapy for investors
Executives of merging companies always talk about synergies; it's their favourite word. In the case of Pantaloons Fashion and Retail Ltd and Madura Garments, ... «Livemint, May 15»
5
Retail therapy for G-sec market
Retail investors will soon be able to easily access the government securities (G-sec) market directly. Currently, they can participate only through mutual funds or ... «Business Standard, Apr 15»
6
RHOA: NeNe Leakes Storms out of Group Therapy
Perhaps NeNe Leakes should have opted for retail therapy instead of group therapy with The Real Housewives of Atlanta on Sunday, as she stormed out of a ... «People Magazine, Mar 15»
7
Retail Therapy: Urban Outfitters Earnings Beat Estimate As Quarterly …
But with a better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings report — out Monday afternoon — the retail group appears to have begun a turnaround. Investors seem ... «Forbes, Mar 15»
8
Retail Therapy Can Backfire
If you are in the middle of a rough patch you may be inclined to head to the mall for a little retail therapy. A trip to your favorite designer store.. or a big purchase ... «Valley News Live, Feb 15»
9
Retail therapy: All the King's Men bags, Duckfeet shoes
RETAIL THERAPY. Duckfeet/All the Kings Men. If there's one thing Melbourne shoppers love, it's discovering places that are tucked away, that require a certain ... «Sydney Morning Herald, Feb 15»
10
Retail therapy could me making us feel worse about ourselves
Surely there are few problems in life that can't be temporarily solved by handing over a credit card and treating ourselves to something that is bound to make us ... «Metro, Jan 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Retail therapy [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/retail-therapy>. Apr 2024 ».
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