kleptomania

American  

[klep-tuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] / ˌklɛp təˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

Or cleptomania

noun

Psychology.

1. an irresistible impulse to steal, stemming from emotional disturbance rather than economic need.

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kleptomania British  

/ ˌklɛptəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. psychol a strong impulse to steal, esp when there is no obvious motivation

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kleptomania Cultural  

1. A compulsion to steal, usually without either economic need or personal desire.

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Other Word Forms

• kleptomaniac
  noun

Etymology

Origin of kleptomania

1820–30; klepto- (combining form of Greek kléptēs thief ) + -mania

Explanation

Kleptomania is an addiction to stealing. People with kleptomania can’t help but steal stuff, whether they need it or not. The word kleptomania comes from the Greek word kleptes for "thief" and mania for “madness.” Pyromania makes people want to light everything on fire, and kleptomania makes people want to steal all the time. People who have kleptomania — kleptomaniacs — are crazy about stealing. Rich people can have kleptomania, which shows their stealing isn't for economic reasons. When you have kleptomania, the rush of stealing is similar to the rush of other addictions.

Example Sentences

Neither is Kraepelin’s dictum that Kleptomania is a form of impulsive insanity, necessarily correct.

From Studies in Forensic Psychiatry by Glueck, Bernard

Kleptomania, klep-to-mā′ni-a, n. a mania for stealing: a morbid impulse to secrete things.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

This, too, quite innocently, and with the excuse of as true a Kleptomania as was ever established in the records of medical jurisprudence.

From The Opium Habit by Day, Horace B.

Kleptomania is met with in the book-worm or the antiquarian, as well as in the feminine lover of dress or those in poverty and distress.

From The Argosy Vol. 51, No. 4, April, 1891 by Wood, Charles W.