cacoëthes
or cac·o·e·thes
[ kak-oh-ee-theez ]
noun
an irresistible urge; mania.
Origin of cacoëthes
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cacoëthes in a sentence
It is a mode of paralysis—a cacoëthes tacendi—the one form that malady takes in me.
Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde | Oscar WildeThe cacoëthes scribendi is a disease common, not to imaginative, but to imitative, minds.
Methods of Authors | Hugo Erichsencacoëthes is a wicked villain, that wittingly and wilfully prepareth mischief.
Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther | Martin Luther
British Dictionary definitions for cacoethes
cacoethes
/ (ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz) /
noun
an uncontrollable urge or desire, esp for something harmful; mania: a cacoethes for smoking
Origin of cacoethes
1C16: from Latin cacoēthes malignant disease, from Greek kakoēthēs of an evil disposition, from kakos caco- + ēthos character
Derived forms of cacoethes
- cacoethic (ˌkækəʊˈɛθɪk), adjective
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
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