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
She allows the camera into the sanctums of her tanning booth and facial treatment sessions, but there’s an exhibitionism in these moments instead of conveying honesty and openness.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2024
Most of the mental health stuff that you see is exhibitionism.
From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2023
Or, as the NFL described it several decades ago, an “unrestrained dance … deemed to be contrived exhibitionism that has no place in the sport.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2022
I have myself hardly ever observed this form of exhibitionism in children.
From The Sexual Life of the Child by Eden Paul
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.
