exhibitionism
Americannoun
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a tendency to display one's abilities or to behave in such a way as to attract attention.
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Psychiatry. a disorder characterized especially by a compulsion to exhibit the genitals in public.
noun
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a compulsive desire to attract attention to oneself, esp by absurd or exaggerated behaviour or boasting
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psychiatry a compulsive desire to expose one's genital organs publicly
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exhibitionism
First recorded in 1890–95; exhibition + -ism
Explanation
Exhibitionism Is acting in a way that deliberately and extravagantly draws attention to yourself. Your brother's exhibitionism might lead him to wear a colorful wig and a tuxedo for the first day of school. There is a kind of exhibitionism that is considered a psychiatric illness — generally, this involves being naked, or partially naked, in public. The more ordinary type of exhibitionism also involves behavior that attracts notice, but it might be singing and dancing in a mall, wearing eccentric clothing, or another conspicuous way of acting. Exhibitionism comes from exhibit, "action of displaying," from the Latin exhibere, "to show or display."
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.
Cage, who wrote music to suppress his ego, had a problem with Ono’s exhibitionism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
But, if protesting is just fruitless exhibitionism, as Teddy claims, and radical acts of direct action don’t seem to work any better, what is there to do if no one will listen?
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
My question for you, which I also think you should ask yourself, is: What exactly do you like about the idea of this kind of exhibitionism?
From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2021
When you do come across acts of kindness and compassion, they seem to be documented and calibrated to serve the gods of exhibitionism and self-promotion.
From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2020
This instinct of ostentation, however, so far as it is normal, is held in check by other considerations, and is not, in the strict sense, exhibitionism.
From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 5 Erotic Symbolism; The Mechanism of Detumescence; The Psychic State in Pregnancy by Ellis, Havelock
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.
