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Oct 29, 2025
This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
nomophobia
partocracy
opsomania

opsomania
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

opsomania

PRONUNCIATION:
(op-so-MAY-nee-uh)

MEANING:
noun: An excessive longing for a particular food.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek opson (delicacies) + - mania (excessive enthusiasm). Earliest documented use: 1857.

NOTES:
We’ve all met an opsomaniac, the person who talks about tiramisu the way others talk about true love. An opsomaniac isn’t just hungry -- they’re emotionally invested in what’s for dinner. Some collect stamps; others collect menus.

USAGE:
“I wouldn’t label his craving for food as opsomania, but certainly, he had a craving and enthusiasm for certain foods.”
R. Premkumar; Puffs and Pachyderms; Notion Press; 2023.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Certainly none of the advances made in civilization has been due to counterrevolutionaries and advocates of the status quo. -Bill Mauldin, editorial cartoonist (29 Oct 1921-2003)

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