cacoëthes
or cac·o·e·thes
an irresistible urge; mania.
Origin of cacoëthes
1Words Nearby cacoëthes
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cacoëthes in a sentence
Erasmus shared with most scholars of the Renaissance the cacoethes scribendi.
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam | Ephraim EmertonThis cacoethes scribendi is the pest of every local curiosity or public watering-place.
Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers | Henry Rowe SchoolcraftAmong the rest she was seized with what we men call a cacoethes of the needle: "a raging desire" for work.
White Lies | Charles ReadeAs cool as you like old Peter replied, 'Cacoethes loquendi.'
Combed Out | Fritz August VoigtI do not believe that there are any cases of the cacoethes subscribendi.
British Dictionary definitions for cacoethes
/ (ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz) /
an uncontrollable urge or desire, esp for something harmful; mania: a cacoethes for smoking
Origin of cacoethes
1Derived forms of cacoethes
- cacoethic (ˌkækəʊˈɛθɪk), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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