Mania Meaning
/ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounViolent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.
nounExcessive or unreasonable desire; insane passion affecting one or many people; fanaticism.
Sentence Examples
He has mania for sports cars.
I don't understand all the soccer mania.
He could not shake off the persecution mania.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
His sudden ____ for collecting stamps caused him to spend all his savings.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a sudden ____ for the new video game, with thousands of people lining up to buy it tonight.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *men- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *mn̥yétorder. Proto-Hellenic *məňňómai Ancient Greek μαίνομαι (maínomai) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek μᾰνῐ́ᾱ (mănĭ́ā)der. Latin maniabor. English mania Borrowed from Latin mania, from Ancient Greek μανία (manía, “madness”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"One of the manias of the present day, which especially excites my spleen, is the locomotive rage which seems to possess all ranks—that necessity of going out of town in the summer..."
— 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 233:
"Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations."
— 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 17 Jul 2020:
"The eugenics mania that swept the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to forced sterilizations and the passage of laws in 27 states designed to limit the numbers of those considered genetically unfit: immigrants, Jews, African-Americans, the mentally ill and those deemed “morally delinquent.”"
— 2018 October 16, John Blake, “When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on”, in CNN:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His sudden ____ for collecting stamps caused him to spend all his savings.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There was a sudden ____ for the new video game, with thousands of people lining up to buy it tonight.