kleptomania

American  

[klep-tuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] / ˌklɛp təˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

Or cleptomania

noun

Psychology.

1. an irresistible impulse to steal, stemming from emotional disturbance rather than economic need.

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kleptomania British  

/ ˌklɛptəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. psychol a strong impulse to steal, esp when there is no obvious motivation

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kleptomania Cultural  

1. A compulsion to steal, usually without either economic need or personal desire.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• kleptomaniac
  noun

Etymology

Origin of kleptomania

1820–30; klepto- (combining form of Greek kléptēs thief ) + -mania

Explanation

Kleptomania is an addiction to stealing. People with kleptomania can’t help but steal stuff, whether they need it or not. The word kleptomania comes from the Greek word kleptes for "thief" and mania for “madness.” Pyromania makes people want to light everything on fire, and kleptomania makes people want to steal all the time. People who have kleptomania — kleptomaniacs — are crazy about stealing. Rich people can have kleptomania, which shows their stealing isn't for economic reasons. When you have kleptomania, the rush of stealing is similar to the rush of other addictions.

Example Sentences

And some feel punishment for minor property offenses is insufficient to break shoplifters of their kleptomania impulses before they become a habit.

From Washington Times • Feb. 13, 2017

Unless something goes haywire in the workforce – an outbreak of kleptomania, say, or plummeting productivity – the company has little reason to tweak the filtering model.

From The Guardian • Sep. 1, 2016

When I posted the article to my social spheres, my creative friends in the ad world lit up with other egregious examples that have me wondering: does advertising have a kleptomania problem?

From Forbes • Feb. 12, 2015

Shumpert had heard about it, though, from Walker, the team’s assistant coach and a known practitioner of on-court kleptomania as a young player in the mid-1980s.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2013

Among these morbid tricks kleptomania has an interest of its own, on account of the frequent doubt whether it is not put forward as a mere excuse for pilfering.

From Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death by Myers, F. W. H. (Frederic William Henry)