cacoethes
- noun
- /ˌkeɪkoʊˈiːθiz/
- Literature
:
cacoetes
- His cacoethes for gambling led him to lose everything.
Examples
-
Her cacoethes for adventure led her to embark on reckless journeys around the world.
-
Writers sometimes confess to a cacoethes for putting their thoughts on paper, regardless of the hour.
-
He struggled daily with a cacoethes for gambling, unable to resist the lure of the casino.
-
She felt a strong cacoethes to travel despite the risks.
-
He struggled daily with a cacoethes for gambling, unable to resist the lure of the casino.
-
Her cacoethes for adventure led her to embark on reckless journeys around the world.
-
Writers sometimes confess to a cacoethes for putting their thoughts on paper, regardless of the hour.
Synonyms
192
3.8
A strong wish to do something, often something you should not do
185
3.6
A sudden strong want to do something without thinking
40
6.7
A strong urge to do something that is hard to control
1
7.9
A sudden strong desire to do something you cannot control
A sudden strong wish to do something without a clear reason
Antonyms
53
3.3
Being able to stop yourself from acting on strong feelings or wants when it is hard
How Strong
262
5.1
- Literature
40
6.7
223
3.2
∞
1.6
61
4.2
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cacoethes comes from the Greek words kakos 'bad' and ethos 'habit' or 'character', the same root you see in ethos and ethical. So a cacoethes is like a 'bad habit' — an urge that is hard to resist and often unreasonable.