dipsomania

[ dip-suh-mey-nee-uh, -soh- ]
See synonyms for dipsomania on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. (no longer in technical use) an irresistible, typically periodic craving for alcoholic drinks.

Origin of dipsomania

1
First recorded in 1835–45; from New Latin, from Greek díps(a) “thirst” + -o- connecting vowel + manía “enthusiasm (for)”; see origin at -o- -mania

Words Nearby dipsomania

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

How to use dipsomania in a sentence

  • What compensation dipsomania gave him I know not, but that he did get some kind of wild joy I am quite sure.

    London's Underworld | Thomas Holmes
  • I dislike to hear drunkenness called dipsomania, as I so often do; but I do not therefore say that dipsomania is only drunkenness.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot
  • Dr. Curtis did not mean by religio-mania religious appreciation; neither did he mean by dipsomania, temperate use of stimulants.

  • Probably, with the low cunning and fallacious reasoning of dipsomania, he had pouched her savings with that very thought in mind.

    Joan Thursday | Louis Joseph Vance
  • Speaking of intemperance in relation to crime, he states that: 'Brain-workers provide the most hopeless cases of dipsomania.

    The Curse of Education | Harold E. Gorst

British Dictionary definitions for dipsomania

dipsomania

/ (ˌdɪpsəʊˈmeɪnɪə) /


noun
  1. a compulsive desire to drink alcoholic beverages

Origin of dipsomania

1
C19: New Latin, from Greek dipsa thirst + -mania

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