Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for monomania. Search instead for phonomania.
Synonyms

monomania

American  
[mon-uh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] / ˌmɒn əˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

  1. (no longer in technical use) a psychosis characterized by thoughts confined to one idea or group of ideas.

  2. an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.

monomania British  
/ ˌmɒnəʊməˈnaɪəkəl, ˌmɒnəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

  1. an excessive mental preoccupation with one thing, idea, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • monomaniac noun
  • monomaniacal adjective

Etymology

Origin of monomania

From New Latin, dating back to 1815–25; mono-, -mania

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.

And with the arguable exception of “Mission: Impossible’s” Ethan Hunt, few Cruise characters have felt as aligned with that monomania as Maverick.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2022

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

In conceiving the project, Fournier and Marty invented a backstory and built their décor around it with the zany monomania of a Wes Anderson movie.

From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 13, 2018

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.