tanorexic

noun

tan·​o·​rex·​ic ˌta-nə-ˈrek-sik 

plural tanorexics

: a person who is obsessed with having and maintaining a very dark tan

According to psychologists familiar with this phenomenon, the typical tanorexic is a young woman. In general, she seldom if ever feels she is tan enough.

—Robert Brody, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 June 1991

Tanorexics, it is now well known, are excellent candidates for skin cancer.

—Scott Harris, Springfield (Massachusetts) Union-News, 31 Aug. 1989

tanorexic adjective

Advocates are using the headline-grabbing case of the tanorexic New Jersey mom to push the New York state Senate for approval of a bill banning anyone under 18 from using tanning beds.

—Kenneth Lovett, Daily News (New York), 11 May 2012

She thinks that being slightly tanorexic is about being trendy and beautiful, right here, right now.

—Elyssa Andrus, The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), 24 June 2002

Word History

Etymology

blend of tan entry 2 and anorexic entry 2

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above

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