monomania
Americannoun
-
(no longer in technical use) a psychosis characterized by thoughts confined to one idea or group of ideas.
-
an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.
noun
Other Word Forms
- monomaniac noun
- monomaniacal adjective
Etymology
Origin of monomania
From New Latin, dating back to 1815–25; see origin at mono-, -mania
Explanation
Someone who suffers from monomania is unhealthily preoccupied with something. If your sister talks about nothing but her collection of vintage lunch boxes, you could call it monomania. It's one thing to be excited about playing Scrabble or preoccupied with local politics, but when any interest gets out of hand, you can call it monomania. The word monomania, from the Greek mono, "one" and mania, "madness," was coined by a French psychiatrist in the early 1800s. One of the most famous literary cases of monomania is that of Captain Ahab, obsessed with his pursuit of Moby Dick.
Vocabulary lists containing monomania
It's Madness!: Mania
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The Time Machine
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Bleak House
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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.
Money plus monomania can make a guy crazy.
From Washington Post • Feb. 22, 2022
A similar monomania is back for this latest boom in Black screen expression.
From New York Times • May 20, 2021
While whiplashing the viewing audience with her concertmaster’s monomania, she overlooks her son’s descent into evilness.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2020
Instead of wanting to imitate Bart and Homer, young Hill began to write Simpsons screenplays, and kept at it until he was 16, a monomania seen more often in pianists and Olympians.
From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2019
He could be generous and caring to a fault, but he had a darker side as well, characterized by monomania, impatience, and unwavering self-absorption, qualities that seemed to intensify through his college years.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
