mania

¹ American  

[mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh] / ˈmeɪ ni ə, ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

1. excessive excitement or enthusiasm; craze.

   The country has a mania for soccer.

2. Psychiatry. manic disorder.

---

Mania ² American  

[mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh] / ˈmeɪ ni ə, ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

1. an ancient Roman goddess of the dead.

---

-mania ³ American  

1. a combining form of mania (megalomania ); extended to mean “enthusiasm, often of an extreme and transient nature,” for that specified by the initial element (bibliomania ).

---

-mania ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating extreme desire or pleasure of a specified kind or an abnormal excitement aroused by something

   kleptomania

   nymphomania

   pyromania

---

mania ² British  

/ ˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. a mental disorder characterized by great excitement and occasionally violent behaviour See also manic-depressive

2. an obsessional enthusiasm or partiality

   a mania for mushrooms

---

mania Cultural  

1. Violent, abnormal, or impulsive behavior. In psychological terms, mania is wild activity associated with manic depression.

---

Usage

What does -mania mean? The combining form -mania is used like a suffix meaning literally “mania,” often in the sense of "enthusiasm, often of an extreme or transient nature." It is often used in scientific and technical terms, especially in psychology.The form -mania comes from Greek manía, meaning “madness.” Latin has three translations for manía: dēmentia, furor, and rabiēs, all meaning “madness.” Find out more at our entries for dementia, furor, and rabies.

Discover More

A “mania” in popular terms is an intense enthusiasm or craze.

Other Word Forms

• -maniac combining form
• hypermania noun
• submania noun

Etymology

Origin of mania

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin, from Greek manía “madness”; akin to maenad, mind

Example Sentences

Individual investors poured a record amount of money into stocks and exchange-traded funds in 2025, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase, topping levels seen during the meme-stock mania four years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal

But in some cases, the mania led to lasting change: individual traders successfully ousted the chief executive of Opendoor in August.

From The Wall Street Journal

Nobody knows for sure when or where the current mania for large growth stocks, especially in technology or artificial intelligence, is going to end.

From MarketWatch

Back then, a similar move by CME helped cool some of the speculative mania around silver futures, GameStop shares and more that was linked to the online forum WallStreetBets.

From The Wall Street Journal

OpenAI said that, in a given week, the slice of users who indicate possible signs of mental-health emergencies related to psychosis or mania is a minuscule 0.07%.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• craving
• craze
• craziness
• enthusiasm
• fad
• fascination
• frenzy
• infatuation
• lunacy
• obsession
• passion
• rage