dipsomania en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˌdɪpsə(ʊ)ˈmeɪnɪə/ (UK)
Etymology
From dipso- (“thirst; drinking”) + -mania.
Meanings
- (countable, uncountable) Addiction to alcohol.
- (countable, uncountable) Specifically periodic alcoholism, characterized by bouts of heavy drinking rather than continuous indulgence in alcohol.
-
(broadly, countable, uncountable) A strong craving for something.
A most ingenuous youth was Master Snape, round-eyed, round-cheeked, with an ever ready smooth and round unvarnished tale—a youth afflicted with a dipsomania for information.
1883 November 10, Basil [pseudonym; Richard Ashe King], “A Drawn Game”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round, volume XXXII, number 780, page 507, column 1:"You must regard my passion for painting," he began once more, "as a sort of dipsomania—I really can't help myself."
1919 March 31, W[ilhelm] N[ero] P[ilate] Barbellion [pseudonym; Bruce Frederick Cummings], “[1914] November 20”, in The Journal of a Disappointed Man, London: Chatto & Windus, published 27 April 1920 (5th impression), →OCLC, part II (In London), page 155:Such a negative outcome seemed impossible to investors experiencing dot-com dipsomania in late 1999 and early 2000.
2010, Scott Patterson, The Quants: How a Small Band of Math Wizards Took Over Wall St. And Nearly Destroyed It, New York, N.Y.: Crown Business, →ISBN, pages 199–200:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dipsomanias | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (16)
fi kausijuoppous (periodic alcoholism) · bg алкохолизъм (addiction to alcohol) · ru дипсома́ния (periodic alcoholism) · ca dipsomania (addiction to alcohol) · fr dipsomanie (addiction to alcohol) · el διψομανία (addiction to alcohol) · kk дипсомания (periodic alcoholism) · de Dipsomanie (addiction to alcohol) · gv ard-phaays alcoalagh (addiction to alcohol) · eo dipsomanio (periodic alcoholism) · fi juoppous (addiction to alcohol) · sv dipsomani (addiction to alcohol) · fi dipsomania (periodic alcoholism) · fi alkoholismi (addiction to alcohol) · et dipsomaania (addiction to alcohol) · gv sheer-veshtallys (addiction to alcohol)