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

• kleptomaniac noun

Etymology

Origin of kleptomania

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

Example Sentences

She lost several jobs over greedy business negotiations for perks, and even had bouts of kleptomania.

From Washington Times • Oct. 22, 2019

The kleptomania reached its final shameful heights when we visited a small family-run honey farm on our last day.

From The Guardian • Feb. 11, 2017

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

Her mother, his wife, he said, an excellent, kind-hearted, conscientious, truthful woman, had occasionally manifested the kleptomania impulse and had been detected.

From Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations The Veil Lifted, and Light Thrown on Crime and its Causes, and Criminals and their Haunts. Facts and Disclosures. by Howe, William F.