erotomania

[ ih-roh-tuh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh, ih-rot-uh- ]

noun

, Psychiatry.

1. abnormally strong or persistent sexual desire.

erotomania

/ ɪˌrɒtəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. abnormally strong sexual desire
2. a condition in which a person is obsessed with another person and groundlessly believes that person to be in love with him or her

Derived Forms

• eˌrotoˈmaniac, noun

Other Words From

• e·ro·to·ma·ni·ac [ih-roh-t, uh, -, mey, -nee-ak, ih-rot-, uh, -], noun
• e·ro·to·man·ic [ih-roh-t, uh, -, man, -ik, ih-rot-, uh, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of erotomania¹

First recorded in 1870–75; eroto- + -mania

Example Sentences

But David is not about to be placated with look-at-me lingerie; erotomania in full swing, he’s soon lurking in Ellie’s bedroom and sniffing her unmentionables.

From New York Times

Hill also says that Biden failed to restrain Republicans who smeared Hill's reputation, from Sen. John Danforth of Missouri recruiting a forensic psychologist to accuse Hill of "erotomania" to Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who brandished a copy of "The Exorcist" throughout the Hill hearings.

From Salon

He didn’t apologize for allowing Republicans on the committee to badger her with accusations that she suffered from “erotomania,” a condition characterized by delusions that a higher-ranking person has the hots for them.

From Slate

She said she also faults Mr. Biden for letting the hearings get out of control — “The process went completely off track” — and for failing to restrain Republicans like former Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who brandished a copy of “The Exorcist” during the hearings, and former Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri, who while advising Judge Thomas enlisted the help of a forensic psychiatrist who suggested Ms. Hill suffered from “erotomania.”

From New York Times

With the word “annihilation” she conjured the spectre of Anita Hill, who, in her testimony against Clarence Thomas, in 1991, was basically berated over an exhausting two-day period, and diagnosed, by the senators interrogating her, with “erotomania” and a case of man-eating professionalism.

From The New Yorker