cacoëthes

American  

[kak-oh-ee-theez] / ˌkæk oʊˈi θiz /

Or cacoethes

noun

1. an irresistible urge; mania.

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cacoethes British  

/ ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz, ˌkækəʊˈɛθɪk /

noun

1. an uncontrollable urge or desire, esp for something harmful; mania

   a cacoethes for smoking

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Other Word Forms

• cacoethic adjective

Etymology

Origin of cacoëthes

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin, from Greek kakóēthes, neuter (used as noun) of kakoḗthēs “malignant,” literally, “of bad character”; see caco-, ethos

Example Sentences

It is a mode of paralysis—a cacoëthes tacendi—the one form that malady takes in me.

From Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde by Wilde, Oscar

The cacoëthes scribendi is a disease common, not to imaginative, but to imitative, minds.

From Methods of Authors by Erichsen, Hugo

For the Madigans' Aunt Anne was afflicted with cacoëthes scribendi, and was never so happy as when there was a letter to be written—except when she was actually writing it.

From The Madigans by Lowell, Orson

The conditions just now are exceptionally favourable--that is, a cacoëthes scribendi has coincided with abundance of matter to write about, but the organs of the great external world naturally provide a model for the writer.

From Aspects of Modern Oxford by Godley, A. D. (Alfred Denis)

His father designed him for the law, and he studied the institutes at the Philadelphia Law Academy, but like Schumann, he was spoiled for briefs by the stronger pull of music and the cacoëthes scribendi.

From A Book of Prefaces by Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis)