If you say that a person or group has a maniafor something, you mean that they enjoy it very much or spend a lot of time on it.
It seemed to some observers that the English had a mania for travelling. [+ for]
The media have a mania about rugby union.
...Mozart mania.
2. uncountable noun
Mania is a mental illness which causes the sufferer to become very worried or concerned about something.
...the treatment of mania.
He almost wouldn't eat at all and had the oddest manias.
More Synonyms of mania
mania in British English
(ˈmeɪnɪə)
noun
1.
a psychiatric disorder characterized by great excitement and occasionally violent behaviour
See also manic-depressive
2.
an obsessional enthusiasm or partiality
a mania for mushrooms
Word origin
C14: via Late Latin from Greek: madness
-mania in British English
combining form in countable noun
indicating extreme desire or pleasure of a specified kind or an abnormal excitement aroused by something
kleptomania
nymphomania
pyromania
Word origin
from mania
mania in American English
(ˈmeɪniə; ˈmeɪnjə)
noun
1.
wild or violent mental disorder; specif., the manic phase of bipolar affective disorder, characterized generally by abnormal excitability, exaggerated feelings of well-being, flight of ideas, excessive activity, etc.
2.
an excessive, persistent enthusiasm, liking, craving, or interest; obsession; craze
a mania for dancing
SYNONYMY NOTE: mania in its basic sense (see definition above) describes the phase of bipolar affectivedisorder that is distinguished from depression; delirium denotes a temporary state of extreme mental disturbance (marked by restlessness,incoherence, and hallucinations) that occurs during fevers, in alcoholic psychosis,etc.; , frenzy, not used technically in psychiatry, implies extreme emotional agitation in whichself-control is lost; , hysteria is applied in psychiatry to certain psychogenic disorders characterized by excitability,anxiety, sensory and motor disturbances, and the involuntary simulation of blindness,deafness, etc. In extended use, , mania suggests a craze for something [a mania for surfing], delirium, rapturous excitement [a delirium of joy], and hysteria, an outburst of wild, uncontrolled feeling [she laughed and cried in her hysteria]
Word origin
ME < LL < Gr, madness < mainesthai, to rage < IE base *men-, to think, be mentally excited > mind
-mania in American English
(ˈmeɪniə; ˈmeɪnjə)
1.
a (specified) type of mental disorder characterized by an abnormal preoccupation, compulsion, etc.
pyromania
2.
a continuing, intense enthusiasm, craving, or liking for (a specified thing)
bibliomania
Word origin
see mania
Examples of 'mania' in a sentence
mania
Law firms are having one of their regular spasms of merger mania.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But economists said that the current merger and acquisition mania had some distance to go.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The peak of a speculative mania is a sight to behold.
John Cassidy DOT.CON (2001)
It was the height of the dot-com mania.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In 1825 it was the country banks that went under after a burst of speculative mania.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Technology provided the focus for the speculative mania, but it can't fully explain what happened.
John Cassidy DOT.CON (2001)
Once dot-com mania was over, he got out with about enough for a deposit on a house.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
What happens if some US investors get swept up in a new wave of dot-com mania and bid the price sky high?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A FRESH round of merger mania could be on the cards in car dealerships.
The Sun (2011)
Word lists with
mania
Psychology terms
In other languages
mania
British English: mania /ˈmeɪnɪə/ NOUN
If you say that a person or group has a mania for something, you mean that they enjoy it very much or devote a lot of time to it.
He described himself as having a mania for privacy.
American English: mania
Arabic: هَوَس
Brazilian Portuguese: mania
Chinese: 颠狂
Croatian: manija
Czech: mánie
Danish: mani
Dutch: manie
European Spanish: manía
Finnish: mania
French: manie
German: Manie
Greek: μανία
Italian: mania
Japanese: ･･･熱 熱狂
Korean: 광적인 열중
Norwegian: mani
Polish: obłęd
European Portuguese: mania
Romanian: manie
Russian: мания
Latin American Spanish: manía
Swedish: mani
Thai: ความคลั่งไคล้
Turkish: çılgınlık
Ukrainian: манія
Vietnamese: sự đam mê
Chinese translation of 'mania'
mania
(ˈmeɪnɪə)
n
(c) (= craze) 狂热(熱) (kuángrè) (阵(陣), zhèn)
(u) (= illness) 躁狂症 (zàokuángzhèng)
(noun)
Definition
an obsessional enthusiasm or liking
They had a mania for travelling.
Synonyms
obsession
yet another man with an obsession about football
passion
She has a passion for gardening.
Mountaineering is his passion.
thing (informal)
She's got a thing about red hair.
desire
rage
The people are full of fear and rage.
enthusiasm
the current enthusiasm for skateboarding
craving
preoccupation
Success in her field has always been her preoccupation.
craze
a magazine article about the latest fitness craze
fad (informal)
He does not believe that environmental concern is a passing fad.
fetish
I've got a bit of a shoe fetish.
fixation
Somebody has a fixation with you.
partiality
subject word lists
See Types of mania
Additional synonyms
in the sense of craze
Definition
a short-lived fashion or enthusiasm
a magazine article about the latest fitness craze
Synonyms
fad,
thing (informal),
fashion,
trend,
passion,
rage,
enthusiasm,
mode,
vogue,
novelty,
preoccupation,
mania,
infatuation,
the latest thing (informal)
in the sense of enthusiasm
the current enthusiasm for skateboarding
Synonyms
interest,
passion,
rage,
hobby,
obsession,
craze,
fad (informal),
mania,
hobbyhorse
in the sense of fad
Definition
an intense but short-lived fashion
He does not believe that environmental concern is a passing fad.
Synonyms
craze,
fashion,
trend,
fancy,
rage,
mode,
vogue,
whim,
mania,
affectation
Nearby words of
mania
mangy
manhandle
manhood
mania
maniac
maniacal
manic
Synonyms of 'mania'
mania
Explore 'mania' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fetish
Definition
any object, activity, etc., to which one is excessively devoted
I've got a bit of a shoe fetish.
Synonyms
fixation,
obsession,
mania,
thing (informal),
idée fixe
in the sense of fixation
Definition
an obsessive interest in something
Somebody has a fixation with you.
Synonyms
obsession,
complex (informal),
addiction,
hang-up (informal),
preoccupation,
mania,
infatuation,
idée fixe,
thing (informal)
in the sense of passion
Definition
the object of an intense desire or enthusiasm
She has a passion for gardening.Mountaineering is his passion.
Synonyms
mania,
fancy,
enthusiasm,
obsession,
bug (informal),
craving,
fascination,
craze,
infatuation
in the sense of preoccupation
Success in her field has always been her preoccupation.