megalomania
Americannoun
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Psychiatry. a symptom of mental illness marked by delusions of greatness, wealth, etc.
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an obsession with doing extravagant or grand things.
noun
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a mental illness characterized by delusions of grandeur, power, wealth, etc
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informal a lust or craving for power
Other Word Forms
- megalomaniac adjective
- megalomaniacal adjective
Etymology
Origin of megalomania
Explanation
Megalomania is a crazy hunger for power and wealth, and a passion for grand schemes. Comic book villains often suffer from megalomania. Their plans are thwarted only by superheroes. Megalomania comes from the Greek megas ("great") and mania ("madness"). It is a madness of greatness, but not a great kind of madness! Megalomaniacs in history include Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Napoleon Bonaparte. People with megalomania tend to exaggerate their virtues and never see their faults.
Vocabulary lists containing megalomania
Ender's Game
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It's Madness!: Mania
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 36
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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.
He “has mystical tendencies, no common sense, and a Wagnerian taste for heroics and death. He was born loaded with vanities and has developed megalomania as his final decoration.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026
Some superstars hide their megalomania under humility; Williams shields his tenderness with jokes about being a narcissist, only exposing his wounds in his muscular, vulnerable lyrics.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 24, 2024
The dictator’s globally ruinous megalomania engendered some internal resistance, and Ulrich von Hassell’s part in the famous assassination plot of July 20, 1944, would land him in Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2023
It’s early days, and it shows: Microsoft’s chatty new Bing beta recently creeped out a New York Times reporter with its megalomania and amorous advances.
From Slate • Mar. 1, 2023
His comrades claimed that he was suffering from megalomania.
From A Little Garrison A Realistic Novel of German Army Life of To-day by Bilse, Fritz Oswald
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.
