fetishism

American  

[fet-i-shiz-uhm, fee-ti-] / ˈfɛt ɪˌʃɪz əm, ˈfi tɪ- /

Or fetichism

noun

1. belief in or use of fetishes.

2. Psychiatry. the compulsive use of some object, or part of the body, as a stimulus in the course of attaining sexual gratification, as a shoe, a lock of hair, or underclothes.

3. blind devotion.

   a fetishism of sacrifice to one's children.

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fetishism British  

/ ˈfɛtɪˌʃɪzəm, ˈfiː- /

noun

1. a condition in which the handling of an inanimate object or a specific part of the body other than the sexual organs is a source of sexual satisfaction

2. belief in or recourse to a fetish for magical purposes

3. excessive attention or attachment to something

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Other Word Forms

• fetishist noun
• fetishistic adjective
• fetishistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of fetishism

First recorded in 1795–1805; fetish + -ism

Example Sentences

For all its brutality, the series retains the original’s romance without sliding into its predecessor’s cultural fetishism.

From Salon • Feb. 27, 2024

"We need to be pragmatic and guided by observed data, including underlying inflation, without fetishism for increases that are too mechanical," he added.

From Reuters • Jan. 5, 2023

In doing so, he illustrates how a record’s physicality — its texture, weight, composition — inspires such fetishism.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2020

“Revenge” begins at a high pitch of travel porn and commodity fetishism.

From Seattle Times • May 10, 2018

The beginning of writing is the hieroglyphic or symbolical picture; the beginning of worship is fetishism or idolatry; the beginning of eloquence is pictorial, sensuous, and metaphorical; the beginning of philosophy is the myth.

From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole