megalomania

[ meg-uh-loh-mey-nee-uh ]
See synonyms for megalomania on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Psychiatry. a symptom of mental illness marked by delusions of greatness, wealth, etc.

  2. an obsession with doing extravagant or grand things.

Origin of megalomania

1
First recorded in 1885–90; megalo- + -mania

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use megalomania in a sentence

  • All are megalomanias—natural instincts distorted to vices by warp of abnormal self-centredness.

    Feminism and Sex-Extinction | Arabella Kenealy

British Dictionary definitions for megalomania

megalomania

/ (ˌmɛɡələʊˈmeɪnɪə) /


noun
  1. a mental illness characterized by delusions of grandeur, power, wealth, etc

  2. informal a lust or craving for power

Derived forms of megalomania

  • megalomaniac, adjective, noun
  • megalomaniacal (ˌmɛɡələʊməˈnaɪəkəl), 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

Cultural definitions for megalomania

megalomania

[ (meg-uh-loh-may-nee-uh) ]


Delusions of grandeur; an extreme form of egotism. Adolf Hitler is generally considered to have been a megalomaniac.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.