mania

¹

[ mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh ]

noun

1. excessive excitement or enthusiasm; craze:

   The country has a mania for soccer.

2. Psychiatry. manic disorder.

Mania

²

[ mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh ]

noun

1. an ancient Roman goddess of the dead.

-mania

³

1. a combining form of mania ( megalomania ); extended to mean “enthusiasm, often of an extreme and transient nature,” for that specified by the initial element ( bibliomania ).

mania

¹

/ ˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. a mental disorder characterized by great excitement and occasionally violent behaviour See also manic-depressive
2. an obsessional enthusiasm or partiality

   a mania for mushrooms

-mania

²

combining form

1. indicating extreme desire or pleasure of a specified kind or an abnormal excitement aroused by something

   kleptomania

   pyromania

   nymphomania

mania

1. Violent, abnormal, or impulsive behavior. In psychological terms, mania is wild activity associated with manic depression.

Notes

A “mania” in popular terms is an intense enthusiasm or craze.

Derived Forms

• -maniac, combining_form:in_adjectivecombining_form:in_noun:countable

Other Words From

• hyper·mani·a noun
• sub·mani·a noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mania¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin, from Greek manía “madness”; akin to maenad, mind

Word History and Origins

Origin of mania¹

C14: via Late Latin from Greek: madness

Origin of mania²

from mania

Example Sentences

Mariachis provided the soundtrack as the City went mad with Fernando-mania.

From The Daily Beast

Hours after these reports, one of which I published, the mania was in full swing.

From The Daily Beast

Given the hoops mania, though, the gym is the largest in the state, capable of holding 3,000-plus rabid fans.

From The Daily Beast

If you want to predict trends in America, whether in politics or products, World Cup mania should serve as a wake-up call.

From The Daily Beast

The more important smell test is one of tone: that cocktail of cleverness, warmth, and mania that marked the Henson years.

From The Daily Beast

This mania for correction shows itself too in relation to the authorities themselves.

From Project Gutenberg

Of the railway mania period I have spoken in a previous chapter.

From Project Gutenberg

The very next day he burst in upon me in a state of bliss bordering on mania.

From Project Gutenberg

When one considers a phenomenon of such range and intensity, it does not suffice to employ words like infatuation, fashion, mania.

From Project Gutenberg

At this period in his life it was a kind of mania to declare himself quite incapable in certain branches of his art.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• craving
• craze
• craziness
• enthusiasm
• fad
• fascination
• frenzy
• infatuation
• lunacy
• obsession
• passion
• rage