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Synonyms

mania

1 American  
[mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh] / ˈmeɪ ni ə, ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

  1. excessive excitement or enthusiasm; craze.

    The country has a mania for soccer.

  2. Psychiatry. manic disorder.

Mania 2 American  
[mey-nee-uh, meyn-yuh] / ˈmeɪ ni ə, ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

  1. an ancient Roman goddess of the dead.

-mania 3 American  

  1. a combining form of mania (megalomania ); extended to mean “enthusiasm, often of an extreme and transient nature,” for that specified by the initial element (bibliomania ).

mania 1 British  
/ ˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

  1. a mental disorder characterized by great excitement and occasionally violent behaviour See also manic-depressive

  2. an obsessional enthusiasm or partiality

    a mania for mushrooms
"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
-mania 2 British  

combining form

  1. indicating extreme desire or pleasure of a specified kind or an abnormal excitement aroused by something

    kleptomania

    nymphomania

    pyromania
"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
mania Cultural  

  1. Violent, abnormal, or impulsive behavior. In psychological terms, mania is wild activity associated with manic depression.

Usage

What does -mania mean? The combining form -mania is used like a suffix meaning literally “mania,” often in the sense of "enthusiasm, often of an extreme or transient nature." It is often used in scientific and technical terms, especially in psychology.The form -mania comes from Greek manía, meaning “madness.” Latin has three translations for manía: dēmentia, furor, and rabiēs, all meaning “madness.” Find out more at our entries for dementia, furor, and rabies.

Discover More

A “mania” in popular terms is an intense enthusiasm or craze.

Other Word Forms

  • -maniac combining form
  • hypermania noun
  • submania noun

Etymology

Origin of mania

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin, from Greek manía “madness”; akin to maenad, mind

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Retail investors have limited opportunities to get in on trendy private companies that are disrupting the U.S. economy, hence the initial mania.

From MarketWatch

The mania reflects how investors are eager to get a piece of hot AI companies gearing up for potential public offerings in 2026.

From MarketWatch

This was also when a mania for natural-history collection swept the nation.

From The Wall Street Journal

All this at a time when Hutchcroft was swinging between episodes of mania and depression.

From BBC

It reemerged as a meme stock later that month — with shares briefly shooting to a high of $3.62 — but the mania quickly faded.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.