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A Brief History of Fetish
When fetish first appeared in English in the early 17th century, it referred to objects (often amulets) believed by certain West Africans to have supernatural powers. During the 19th century, the word took on a broader meaning: "an object of irrational devotion or reverence." The object need not be physical: a person may have a fetish for an idea, such as an unwarranted belief that a particular economic system will solve society’s ills. By the early 20th century, fetish took on yet another meaning quite distinct from its antecedents: a sexualized desire for an object (such as a shoe) or for a body part that is not directly related to the reproductive act (such as an earlobe).
Examples of fetish in a Sentence
Cree Lefavour, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Her videos will aim to appeal to those with hair fetishes.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025
Along the way, the orchid became the subject of scientific speculation (including by Charles Darwin), a fetish in the Victorian era’s burgeoning consumer culture, and an example of the excesses of imperialist extraction.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
That reputation foreshadows the series’ fetish for both-sidesism and centrist consensus, at one point explicitly equating the right’s embrace of blatant untruths with the left’s enthusiasm for pronouns.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fetish
Cite this Entry
“Fetish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fetish. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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fetish
noun
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