paraphilia

noun

para·phil·ia | \ ˌper-ə-ˈfi-lē-ə

, ˌpa-rə-\

Definition of paraphilia

: a pattern of recurring sexually arousing mental imagery or behavior that involves unusual and especially socially unacceptable sexual practices (such as sadism or pedophilia)

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Other Words from paraphilia

paraphiliac \ ˌper-ə-ˈfi-lē-ˌak

, ˌpa-rə- \ or paraphilic \ ˌper-ə-ˈfi-lik

, ˌpa-rə- \ adjective or noun

Examples of paraphilia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For those with paraphilia, the burglary is a cover story. — Tribune News Service, oregonlive.com, "The Man in the Window: First the burglaries; then the dogs started dying (Part Two)," 22 June 2019 It's estimated that roughly one third of the population experiments with some form of paraphilia at least once in their lives, with 17 percent regularly engaging in their kinks. — Andrew Paul, GQ, "What Golden Shower Practitioners Think About a Certain Rumored Pee Tape," 24 Apr. 2018 More commonly discussed types of paraphilia are things like pedophilia, zoophilia, and objectophilia. — Eliza Thompson, Cosmopolitan, "3 Experts Explain Why Some People Are Attracted to Serial Killers," 14 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paraphilia.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near paraphilia

Statistics for paraphilia

Last Updated

9 Jul 2019

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Time Traveler for paraphilia

The first known use of paraphilia was in 1925

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More Definitions for paraphilia

paraphilia

noun

para·phil·ia | \ -ˈfil-ē-ə

Medical Definition of paraphilia

: a pattern of recurring sexually arousing mental imagery or behavior that involves unusual and especially socially unacceptable sexual practices (as sadism, masochism, fetishism, or pedophilia)