dipsomania

C2+ Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˌdɪpsəˈmeɪniə/ UK /ˌdɪpsəˈmeɪnɪə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
an uncontrollable craving for alcoholic drink

His dipsomania eventually cost him his career and his family.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an uncontrollable craving... alcoholism drunkenness intemperanceinebriety

Opposites

sobriety abstinence temperance

Word family

Forms dipsos

Derived forms dipsomaniacdipsomaniacal

Etymology

A 19th-century medical coinage from Ancient Greek dipsa ('thirst') plus mania ('madness, frenzy'); literally 'thirst-madness.'

dípsa Ancient Greek manía Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

# dipsomania

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌdɪpsəˈmeɪniə
**IPA (UK):** ˌdɪpsəˈmeɪnɪə

## Meanings
1. an uncontrollable craving for alcoholic drink

## Examples
- His dipsomania eventually cost him his career and his family.

## Synonyms
- alcoholism
- drunkenness
- intemperance
- inebriety

## Antonyms
- sobriety
- abstinence
- temperance

## Derived Forms
- dipsomaniac
- dipsomaniacal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dípsa
- Root: manía

## Etymology
A 19th-century medical coinage from Ancient Greek dipsa ('thirst') plus mania ('madness, frenzy'); literally 'thirst-madness.'

## AI Etymology
Dipsomania is a 19th-century medical coinage from Ancient Greek dipsa ('thirst') plus mania ('madness, frenzy'); literally 'thirst-madness.'. The ancestry passes through Ancient Greek dípsa and Ancient Greek manía. In present use as a noun, it means "an uncontrollable craving for alcoholic drink", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Derived forms include dipsomaniac and dipsomaniacal. Its contrast set includes sobriety, abstinence, and temperance, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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