Philias & Manias
English has a whole vocabulary for passions and obsessions, built mostly from Greek. The suffix -philia means a love or strong liking - a bibliophile loves books - while -mania signals an intense enthusiasm, an obsession or, in some cases, a recognised condition.
This guide collects common and curious philias, manias and famous crazes, with the meaning and root behind each. Note that some manias, such as kleptomania and pyromania, are genuine clinical conditions: they are listed here as vocabulary, not as medical advice.
27 entries in this category
Famous Crazes
3The frenzied fan excitement surrounding The Beatles in the 1960s.
"Beatlemania swept America in 1964."
The 1630s Dutch craze in which single tulip bulbs sold for huge sums.
"Tulip mania is often cited as the first speculative bubble."
A modern playful "mania" for pop star Justin Bieber - showing the suffix is still productive.
"The concert was a full-blown case of Bieber Fever."
Manias (Obsession With)
9A recognised impulse-control condition: a recurring urge to steal things one does not need.
"Kleptomania is treated as a mental-health condition, not simple greed."
A recognised impulse-control condition involving an urge to set fires.
"Pyromania is rare and requires professional treatment."
A recognised condition involving a compulsive urge to pull out one's hair.
"Trichotillomania often begins in childhood or adolescence."
An obsession with power or an inflated sense of one's own importance.
"The villain's megalomania drove him to try to rule the world."
An obsessive preoccupation with oneself.
"His egomania made him impossible to work with."
An intense obsession with one single subject or idea.
"Captain Ahab's monomania was the white whale."
An obsession with collecting books, sometimes beyond the point of reading them.
"His bibliomania left no room for furniture."
An overwhelming urge to write.
"Her graphomania produced three novels a year."
An old term for an uncontrollable craving for alcohol.
"Victorian doctors used the word dipsomania for alcoholism."
Philias (Love Of)
15A love of books, especially collecting fine or rare editions.
"Her bibliophilia filled every wall of the house with shelves."
A love of words and language.
"A logophile delights in words like "petrichor"."
A passionate love of cinema and film.
"His cinephilia began with weekly trips to the local picture house."
A love of high-fidelity sound reproduction.
"As an audiophile, he spent a fortune on speakers."
A love of France, its people and its culture.
"Her Francophilia shows in her cooking and her bookshelf."
A love of England or Britain and its culture.
"Anglophiles abroad often adore British period dramas."
An attraction to foreign people, customs and cultures - the opposite of xenophobia.
"Travel nurtured a lifelong xenophilia in her."
A love of wine (Greek oinos, "wine").
"A true oenophile can name the vineyard by taste."
A love of cats (Greek ailouros, "cat").
"Her ailurophilia explains the five cats on the sofa."
A love of dogs (Greek kyon, "dog").
"Cynophiles flock to the annual dog show."
A love of sunshine and being in the sun.
"His heliophilia means every holiday is somewhere hot."
A love of night or darkness.
"Astronomers often joke about their nyctophilia."
An enthusiasm for new technology and gadgets.
"His technophilia means he queues for every new phone."
A love of teddy bears, often collecting them (Greek arktos, "bear").
"Her arctophilia began with a single bear from her grandmother."
A love of rain (a modern coinage from Latin pluvia, "rain").
"Pluviophiles love the sound of rain on the roof."