cacoethes (ˌkækəʊˈiːθiːz) | |
— n | |
an uncontrollable urge or desire to do something bad, harmful; mania: a cacoethes for smoking | |
from Gk. kakoethes "ill-habit, wickedness, itch for doing(something)," from kakos "bad" + ethe- "disposition, character". Most famously, in Juvenal's insanabile scribendi cacoethes "incurable passion for writing." |