noun
- an irresistible urge or compulsion to do something, especially something harmful or unwise
Usage: formal; literary
Examples
- He had a cacoethes for gambling that eventually ruined his finances.
- The writer’s cacoethes for revision meant she never finished her novel.
- His cacoethes for collecting rare books filled every room in the house.
- She recognized her cacoethes for perfectionism was becoming destructive.
- The politician’s cacoethes for making promises he couldn’t keep damaged his reputation.
- His cacoethes for interrupting others made him unpopular at meetings.