monomania

noun

mono·​ma·​nia ˌmä-nə-ˈmā-nē-ə 

-nyə

1

: mental illness especially when limited in expression to one idea or area of thought

2

: excessive concentration on a single object or idea

monomaniac

ˌmä-nə-ˈmā-nē-ˌak 

noun or adjective

monomaniacal

ˌmä-nə-mə-ˈnī-ə-kəl 

adjective

monomaniacally

ˌmä-nə-mə-ˈnī-ə-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of monomania in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In this opera about monomania and desperation, the stakes somehow seem low. —Justin Davidson, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025

That moniker, which sits on the line between jokiness and monomania, captures the danger. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2024

The monomania of getting into the sky transcends any barrier that puts him on the ground. —Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Dec. 2022

Coaches and judges exacerbated students’ monomania. —Tess McNulty, Harper's Magazine, 10 Aug. 2022

Because as is now clear, Putin’s monomania about controlling Ukraine—its military, its economy, its entire sovereignty—stems not from security arrangements, but from pure, unadulterated neo-imperialism, and a desire to reclaim territories Putin believes belong to Moscow. —Casey Michel, The New Republic, 22 Feb. 2022

There are a few problems with the notion that Trump is to blame for our collective political monomania. —Christopher Beha, Harper's magazine, 10 May 2019

In conceiving the project, Fournier and Marty invented a backstory and built their décor around it with the zany monomania of a Wes Anderson movie. —Joshua Levine, WSJ, 13 Aug. 2018

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French monomanie, from mono- mono- + -manie -mania

Note: The term monomanie was introduced by the psychiatrist Jean-Étienne Esquirol (1772-1840). It is perhaps first used in print in the article that Esquirol wrote on démonomanie "the delusion of being possessed by evil spirits" in the Dictionnaire des sciences médicales, tome 8 (Dac-Des), Paris, 1814. In a later publication Esquirol recalled applying the term to "partial madness" "more than fifteen years ago" ("Il y a plus de quinze ans que j'ai proposer d'imposer à la folie partielle le nom de monomanie") ("Note sur la monomanie-homocide," in J.-C. Hoffbauer, Médecine légale relative aux aliénés et aux sourds-muets, translated by A.-M. Chambeyron, "avec des notes par MM. Esquirol et Itard," Paris, 1827). For further context see Jan E. Goldstein, Console and Classify: The French Psychiatric Profession in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago, 2001).

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for monomania

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

Medical Definition

monomania

noun

mono·​ma·​nia ˌmän-ə-ˈmā-nē-ə, -nyə 

: mental illness especially when limited in expression to one idea or area of thought