erotomania

American  

[ih-roh-tuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh, ih-rot-uh-] / ɪˌroʊ təˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə, ɪˌrɒt ə- /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. abnormally strong or persistent sexual desire.

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erotomania British  

/ ɪˌrɒtəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. abnormally strong sexual desire

2. a condition in which a person is obsessed with another person and groundlessly believes that person to be in love with him or her

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Other Word Forms

• erotomaniac noun
• erotomanic adjective

Etymology

Origin of erotomania

First recorded in 1870–75; eroto- + -mania

Example Sentences

Hill also says that Biden failed to restrain Republicans who smeared Hill's reputation, from Sen. John Danforth of Missouri recruiting a forensic psychologist to accuse Hill of "erotomania" to Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who brandished a copy of "The Exorcist" throughout the Hill hearings.

From Salon

She said she also faults Mr. Biden for letting the hearings get out of control — “The process went completely off track” — and for failing to restrain Republicans like former Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who brandished a copy of “The Exorcist” during the hearings, and former Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri, who while advising Judge Thomas enlisted the help of a forensic psychiatrist who suggested Ms. Hill suffered from “erotomania.”

From New York Times

With the word “annihilation” she conjured the spectre of Anita Hill, who, in her testimony against Clarence Thomas, in 1991, was basically berated over an exhausting two-day period, and diagnosed, by the senators interrogating her, with “erotomania” and a case of man-eating professionalism.

From The New Yorker

I recall a fevered phone call from a White House adviser peddling the notion that Hill suffered from “erotomania,” a psychiatric disorder involving romantic delusions.

From Washington Post

Today, the terms De Clérambault’s syndrome and erotomania are used interchangeably, and frequently associated with conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

From The Guardian