automaniac

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English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪniæk

Etymology 1

Of auto- (“oneself”) +‎ -maniac (“one who experiences obsession”).[1] Attested from the 19th century.

Noun

automaniac (plural automaniacs)

  1. A person who is self-involved to the point of mental illness.

Etymology 2

Of auto (“automobile”) +‎ -maniac (“one who experiences obsession”).[2] Attested from the early 20th century. Compare automania.

Noun

automaniac (plural automaniacs)

  1. An enthusiast of automobiles and motoring.
    • 1902 July 23, “Record Breaking ‘Tours’”, in The Horseless Age, volume 10, page 81:
      A foolish dissipation, ending in broken rest, depleted purses, broken laws, broken automobiles, and broken bones. […] Is the cost not heavy enough to bring even an automaniac to his senses?
    • 1902, “The Automaniac”, in Massachusetts Medical Journal, page 551:
      There seems to be need of a term to designate these new terrors of our streets, those speed crazed paranoiacs who are now doing so much to bring the automobile into disrepute. […] The word “automaniac,” suggested by The Horseless Age, seems quite appropriate […] Why not adopt the name “automania” for the disease and the automaniac to designate the person afflicted by it?
  2. A road hog.
Translations

References

  1. ^ “automaniac, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2018.
  2. ^ “automaniac, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2018.
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