mania

1 of 2

noun

ma·​nia ˈmā-nē-ə 

-nyə

1

: excitement manifested by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganization of behavior, and elevation of mood

specifically : the manic phase of bipolar disorder

2

a

: excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm

a mania for saving things

—often used in combination

b

: the object of such enthusiasm

His current mania is football.

-mania

2 of 2

noun combining form

1

a

: mental illness

monomania

b

: excessive or abnormal propensity or desire

pyromania

trichotillomania

2

: absorbing interest : extreme enthusiasm

balletomania

bibliomania

Synonyms

Noun

• dementia
• insanity
• hysteria
• madness
• schizophrenia

Examples of mania in a Sentence

Noun

She would typically experience a period of mania and then suddenly become deeply depressed.

The entire city has been gripped by baseball mania.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Distribution also continues to increase through its network of retailers, including Better Baseball, Hit After Hit, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bases Loaded; meanwhile, the torpedo bat mania triggered April sales to surge more than 100% versus the prior year. —Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 4 July 2025

The chaos has been documented in viral videos on X and TikTok, with even the film's star Jack Black joining in on the mania. —Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025

How Public Markets Were Nearly Left For Dead Before The Crypto Revival This is not the first time that Wall Street has been swept up in blockchain mania. —Christopher Perkins, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025

But Romans didn’t jump on the mania for domes that broke out on the Italian peninsula in the eleventh century, when major dome projects started in Florence, Pisa, and Venice. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 12 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, "mental disorder, frenzy," borrowed from Late Latin, borrowed from Greek manía "madness, frenzy," noun derivative (with -ia -ia entry 1) from the base of maínomai, maínesthai "to rage, rave, be frenzied, be out of one's mind," going back to an Indo-European present stem *mn̥-i̯é- (from the verbal base *men- "form a thought"), whence also Old Irish doˑmoinethar "(s/he) supposes, expects," Sanskrit mányate "(s/he) thinks," Avestan mainiieṇte "(they) consider, take for"; also as stative verbs (< *mn̥-h₂i̯é-?) Old Church Slavic mĭnjǫ, mĭněti "to think, suppose," Lithuanian miniù, minė́ti "to mention, commemorate" — more at mind entry 1

Noun combining form

borrowed from Greek -mania, combining form from manía "madness, frenzy" — more at mania

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mania

• crania
• mania
• taenia
• hypomania
• miscellanea
• monomania
• leishmania
• urania
• megalomania

Kids Definition

mania

noun

ma·​nia ˈmā-nē-ə 

-nyə

1

: excitement that is expressed through excessive physical and mental activity and extreme cheerfulness

2

: excessive enthusiasm : craze

had a mania for saving things

Medical Definition

mania

noun

ma·​nia ˈmā-nē-ə, -nyə 

: excitement of psychotic proportions manifested by mental and physical hyperactivity, disorganization of behavior, and elevation of mood

specifically : the manic phase of bipolar disorder