Etymo

megalomania

An extreme attitude toward personal status and power.

Played on · Day 62 · word 4 of 5

Greatness taken too far

How megalomania reached English

oldest first

Simplified path. The puzzle showed the main steps; the full route is being checked.

Greek

  • megalo-‘greatness’
  • -mania‘excessive compulsion’

combined

  1. English

    megalomania

    ‘An exaggerated fixation on greatness’

The story of megalomania

The word combines grandeur with an excessive propensity. Its formation followed German or French models.

German and French models are alternatives, not two consecutive borrowing stages.

Sources

Also built on Greek -mania

  • megalomania, this word
  • kleptomania
  • egomania

Kleptomania shares the ending but changes what the drive concerns.

More words from 6 November 2026

  1. equivocalAn adjective used of an ambiguous statement or sign.
  2. admiralA senior naval commander.
  3. smartIntelligent, stylish or technologically capable.
  4. artichokeA plant whose flower head is eaten as a vegetable.

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