🌷 Tulip obsession 💸 Financial craze

tulipomania

1 9.9

A time when people pay very high prices for something because of excitement, like tulip bulbs in the 1600s

noun
/ˌtuləˈpōˌmānēə/

: tulipomanía

The tulipomania of the 17th century led to outrageous prices for bulbs.

Examples

During the cryptocurrency boom, some analysts compared the excitement to tulipomania in the 1600s.
Historians often cite tulipomania as one of the earliest examples of a financial bubble.
The sudden surge in art prices reminded investors of the dangers of tulipomania.
During the tulipomania, many people lost their fortunes.
The 17th-century tulipomania in the Netherlands caused prices for tulip bulbs to skyrocket beyond belief.
During the height of tulipomania, people speculated wildly on tulip prices, treating them like a hot investment.
Many historians refer to the tulipomania as one of the earliest examples of a financial bubble in modern history.

Synonyms

bubble

vstulipomania

Literature

155 7.1

A time when prices rise quickly and then fall suddenly

focuses on extreme public excitement and a famous historical speculative craze rather than only mechanics

boomlet

vstulipomania

2 7.4

A short period of quick growth or interest

denotes a larger more intense and historically notable speculative craze

How Enthusiastic

tulipomania

1 9.9

mania

34 6.6

fervor

32 6.3

enthusiasm

296 2.2

interest

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

tulipomania singular

tulipomanias plural

Morphology

tulipomania = tulip + mania (semi-transparent) = tulip + mania

The compound clearly refers to tulips plus mania, but the historical financial-bubble sense is a specialized extension that is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

The word tulipomania comes from tulip and mania, where mania means 'madness' or 'obsession'. It refers to the 17th-century Dutch craze when tulip bulb prices rose wildly, so today tulipomania describes a sudden, extreme market bubble or public excitement.