Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

dipsomania

[dip-suh-mey-nee-uh, -soh-]
See more synonyms for dipsomania on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an irresistible, typically periodic craving for alcoholic drink.
Show More

Origin of dipsomania

1835–45; < New Latin < Greek díps(a) thirst + -o- -o- + manía -mania
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dipsomania

Historical Examples

  • It's best not to be too intelligent about insanity and dipsomania and all the other hereditary details.

    Dear Enemy

    Jean Webster

  • Then I remembered our enthusiasm over the Palace of Dipsomania.

    The Belovd Vagabond

    William J. Locke

  • It is, however, as an authority on dipsomania that he is best known.

  • From this it is but a step to dipsomania, which can often be cured.

    Psychical Miscellanea

    J. Arthur Hill

  • They may show themselves in periodical acts, as in dipsomania.

    Degeneracy

    Eugene S. Talbot

British Dictionary definitions for dipsomania

dipsomania

noun
  1. a compulsive desire to drink alcoholic beverages
Show More

Word Origin

C19: New Latin, from Greek dipsa thirst + -mania
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

Word Origin and History for dipsomania

n.

1843, "morbid craving for alcohol," coined in medical Latin from Greek dipsa "thirst" (of unknown origin) + mania.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
dipsomania in Medicine

dipsomania

(dĭp′sə-mā′nē-ə, -mān′yə)
n.
  1. An insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.
Show More
Related formsdip′so•ma′ni•ac (-ăk′) adj. n.dip′so•ma•ni′a•cal (-mə-nī′ə-kəl) adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.