tulipomania

American  

[too-luh-puh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] / ˌtu lə pəˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

1. (in 17th-century Holland) a widespread obsession with tulips, especially of highly prized varieties, as those of a streaked, variegated, or unusual color.

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Etymology

Origin of tulipomania

First recorded in 1700–10; tulip + -o- + -mania

Example Sentences

References to tulipomania have been appearing from time to time, but widespread fear that we might already be immersed in a speculative orgy is simply not evident.

From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2017

You have until tomorrow for Stan's Café's The Just Price of Flowers, a clever Brechtian take on tulipomania, at the AE Harris Factory in Birmingham.

From The Guardian • Jun. 29, 2012

Most of the gory details of the real estate and dot-com bubbles are widely known; ditto for the Dutch tulipomania, despite the fact that it occurred four centuries ago.

From Forbes • Feb. 25, 2010

The government was unable to control the resulting speculation, which threatened the economy before tulipomania, as it became known, died down.

From Time Magazine Archive

A curious illustration of this is furnished in their tulipomania, in which there was a struggle between the love of the substantial and the love of the beautiful.

From Flowers and Flower-Gardens With an Appendix of Practical Instructions and Useful Information Respecting the Anglo-Indian Flower-Garden by Richardson, David Lester