nymphomania

[ nim-fuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh ]

/ ˌnɪm fəˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

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noun Pathology.

abnormally excessive and uncontrollable sexual desire in women.

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Compare Don Juanism, satyriasis.

Origin of nymphomania

1790–1800; <Greek nympho- (see nymph, -o-) + -mania

OTHER WORDS FROM nymphomania

nym·pho·ma·ni·ac

[nim-fuh-mey-nee-ak], /ˌnɪm fəˈmeɪ niˌæk/, noun, adjective

Words nearby nymphomania

nymphalid, nymphet, nympho, nympholepsy, nympholept, nymphomania, nymphomaniac, nymphs, Nymwegen, Nynorsk, Nyoro

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nymphomania in a sentence

After all, she points out, in the 19th and early 20th centuries some doctors diagnosed nymphomania in women deemed to enjoy sex too much.
The tangled and messy science of medicating female sex drives|Purbita Saha|August 17, 2021|Popular-Science
But now her frigid stoicism quickly devolves into a kind of nymphomania.
C.E. Morgan: ‘Light in August’ is Faulkner’s Great American Novel|C.E. Morgan|August 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In men, hypersexuality was traditionally called satyriasis, while similar behavior in women was described as nymphomania.
Are Men Crazy?|Leslie Bennetts|September 2, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Erotomania (satyriasis and nymphomania), or abnormal exaltation of the sexual appetite.
The Sexual Question|August Forel

Such excesses in woman take on a more pathological character than in man, and go under the name of nymphomania.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
A further degree of sexual hyperæsthesia is called Satyriasis in man, and nymphomania in woman.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
It is well known that, while satyriasis is rare, nymphomania is comparatively common.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3 (of 6)|Havelock Ellis
Wichmann states that pollutions are most common in spring (being perhaps the first to make that statement), and also nymphomania.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1 (of 6)|Havelock Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for nymphomania

nymphomania

/ (ˌnɪmfəˈmeɪnɪə) /

noun

a neurotic condition in women in which the symptoms are a compulsion to have sexual intercourse with as many men as possible and an inability to have lasting relationships with themCompare satyriasis

Derived forms of nymphomania

nymphomaniac, noun, adjectivenymphomaniacal (ˌnɪmfəʊməˈnaɪəkəl), adjective

Word Origin for nymphomania

C18: New Latin, from Greek numphē nymph + -mania

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

Cultural definitions for nymphomania

nymphomania

[ (nim-fuh-may-nee-uh) ]

The presence in women of abnormally powerful sexual desires.