cacoëthes

cac·o·ë·thes

 (kăk′ō-ē′thēz)

n.

An irresistible compulsion; a mania.

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[Latin cacoēthes, from neuter of Greek kakoēthēs, ill-disposed : kakos, bad; see kakka- in Indo-European roots + ēthos, disposition; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cacoethes

(ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz)

n

(Pathology) an uncontrollable urge or desire, esp for something harmful; mania: a cacoethes for smoking.

[C16: from Latin cacoēthes malignant disease, from Greek kakoēthēs of an evil disposition, from kakos caco- + ēthos character]

cacoethic adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cac•o•ë•thes

or cac•o•e•thes

(ˌkæk oʊˈi θiz)

n.

an irresistible urge; mania.

[1555–65; < Latin < Greek kakóēthes, neuter (used as n.) of kakoḗthēs malignant, literally, of bad character; see caco-, ethos]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

cacoethes

a chronic and overwhelming desire; mania. — cacoethic, adj.

See also: Disease and Illness

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

cacoethes - an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action mania, passion irrational motive - a motivation that is inconsistent with reason or logic agromania - an intense desire to be alone or out in the open dipsomania, potomania, alcoholism - an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess egomania - an intense and irresistible love for yourself and concern for your own needs kleptomania - an irresistible impulse to steal in the absence of any economic motive logomania, logorrhea - pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking monomania, possession - a mania restricted to one thing or idea necromania, necrophilism - an irresistible sexual attraction to dead bodies phaneromania - an irresistible desire to pick at superficial body parts (as in obsessive nail-biting) pyromania - an uncontrollable desire to set fire to things trichotillomania - an irresistible urge to pull out your own hair

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