dipsomania
nounUK /ˌdɪpsə(ʊ)ˈmeɪnɪə/
Etymology From dipso- (“thirst; drinking”) + -mania.
2
Specifically periodic alcoholism, characterized by bouts of heavy drinking rather than continuous indulgence in alcohol.
3
Broadly A strong craving for something.
- A most ingenuous youth was Master Snape, round-eyed, round-cheeked, with an ever ready smooth and round unvarnished tale—a youth afflicted with a dipsomania for information.1883 November 10, Basil [pseudonym; Richard Ashe King], “A Drawn Game”, in Charles Dickens, editor, All the Year Round, volume XXXII, number 780, page 507, column 1:
- "You must regard my passion for painting," he began once more, "as a sort of dipsomania—I really can't help myself."1919 March 31, W[ilhelm] N[ero] P[ilate] Barbellion [pseudonym; Bruce Frederick Cummings], “[1914] November 20”, in The Journal of a Disappointed Man, London: Chatto & Windus, published 27 April 1920 (5th impression), →OCLC, part II (In London), page 155:
1 more example
- Such a negative outcome seemed impossible to investors experiencing dot-com dipsomania in late 1999 and early 2000.2010, Scott Patterson, The Quants: How a Small Band of Math Wizards Took Over Wall St. And Nearly Destroyed It, New York, N.Y.: Crown Business, →ISBN, pages 199–200: