comfort eating

[ kuhm-fert ee-ting ]

noun

1. emotional eating, especially as a response to sad, depressing, or upsetting feelings or experiences: Compare stress eating ( def ).

   Cake and bread are my go-to for comfort eating when I am down.

Word History and Origins

Origin of comfort eating¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

We see a potent metaphor for the fourth sign of the zodiac in the Mono Silver Zeug cutlery set — a shiny smattering of tools for that sacred source of comfort: eating.

From Los Angeles Times

I told myself it was enough exercise to justify all the comfort eating, as well as an opportunity to support local businesses and cure my cabin fever.

From Slate

The soundtrack indicates that this is not a case of stress or comfort eating, but an act of joy.

From Salon

She has ordered everything from takeaways for comfort eating, to furniture and flights she did not need or had any intention to use.

From BBC

It’s also important to point out that this is just one small study, and the authors themselves note that research on comfort eating in general — and the relationship between stress and eating in particular — is in its early stages, and while that research is promising, we need more data, especially data from human research.

From Seattle Times