fetishism

American  

[fet-i-shiz-uhm, fee-ti-] / ˈfɛt ɪˌʃɪz əm, ˈfi tɪ- /

Or fetichism

noun

1. belief in or use of fetishes.

2. Psychiatry. the compulsive use of some object, or part of the body, as a stimulus in the course of attaining sexual gratification, as a shoe, a lock of hair, or underclothes.

3. blind devotion.

   a fetishism of sacrifice to one's children.

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fetishism British  

/ ˈfɛtɪˌʃɪzəm, ˈfiː- /

noun

1. a condition in which the handling of an inanimate object or a specific part of the body other than the sexual organs is a source of sexual satisfaction

2. belief in or recourse to a fetish for magical purposes

3. excessive attention or attachment to something

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Other Word Forms

• fetishist noun
• fetishistic adjective
• fetishistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of fetishism

First recorded in 1795–1805; fetish + -ism

Example Sentences

For all its brutality, the series retains the original’s romance without sliding into its predecessor’s cultural fetishism.

From Salon • Feb. 27, 2024

"We need to be pragmatic and guided by observed data, including underlying inflation, without fetishism for increases that are too mechanical," he added.

From Reuters • Jan. 5, 2023

“No more tokenism. No more superficial diversity. No longer will we watch Black culture be contorted into a vehicle for self-congratulation, complacency, guilt relief, experiential tourism, fetishism, appropriation and theft.”

From Seattle Times • Jun. 19, 2020

In doing so, he illustrates how a record’s physicality — its texture, weight, composition — inspires such fetishism.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2020

In that case, religion would forsake the line of polytheism, as it had previously abandoned that of fetishism.

From The Idea of God in Early Religions by Jevons, F. B. (Frank Byron)