cacoëthes
noun
an irresistible urge; mania.
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cacothes.
cacoëthes
American
[kak-oh-ee-theez]
/ ˌkæk oʊˈi θiz /
Or
cacoethes
noun
cacoethes
British
/ ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz, ˌkækəʊˈɛθɪk /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cacoëthes
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin, from Greek kakóēthes, neuter (used as noun) of kakoḗthēs “malignant,” literally, “of bad character”; see caco-, ethos
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For the Madigans' Aunt Anne was afflicted with cacoëthes scribendi, and was never so happy as when there was a letter to be written—except when she was actually writing it.
From The Madigans by Lowell, Orson
His father designed him for the law, and he studied the institutes at the Philadelphia Law Academy, but like Schumann, he was spoiled for briefs by the stronger pull of music and the cacoëthes scribendi.
From A Book of Prefaces by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)
Remember that the slightest act of volition on your part can exalt my pecuniary status to the skies, as well as confer distinguished and unparagoned ennoblement upon your cacoëthes scribendi.
From Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. by Anstey, F.
It is a mode of paralysis—a cacoëthes tacendi—the one form that malady takes in me.
From Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde by Wilde, Oscar
The conditions just now are exceptionally favourable--that is, a cacoëthes scribendi has coincided with abundance of matter to write about, but the organs of the great external world naturally provide a model for the writer.
From Aspects of Modern Oxford by Godley, A. D. (Alfred Denis)
Most of us suffer in some degree From cacoethes loquendi, Yet some who deplore it at length seem to be Afflicted with ditto scribendi.
From Time Magazine Archive
This cacoethes scribendi is the pest of every local curiosity or public watering-place.
From Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers by Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
But my physician informs me that I have got the "cacoethes scribendi," which he says is as bad as the small-pox, toothache, and yellow fever.
From Doesticks, What He Says by Doesticks, Q. K. Philander
Casting my eyes round the circle, I was struck with the singular prevalence of the cacoethes scribendi, among so many men of different educations, antecedents, and pursuits.
From Recollections of Europe by Cooper, James Fenimore
We quite agree with Admiral Smyth when he says, "It is a pity that Mr. Brydone laboured under such a cacoethes, as to sacrifice a friend for the sake of a good story."
From Etna A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions by Rodwell, G. F.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
