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Definition of "nympholepsy" [nym•pho•lep•sy]

  • A frenzy supposed by ancient peoples to have been induced by nymphs. (noun)
  • An emotional frenzy. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "nympholepsy" in a sentence
  • "A terrible malady is she, a malady the ancients knew of and called nympholepsy -- a beautiful name evocative and symbolic of its ideal aspect,"
  • "The word we want is "nympholepsy", which doesn't quite mean what you think it means."
  • "London, 1821, entitled _Two Pairs of Historical Portraits_, in which an attempt is made to trace a minute resemblance between the characters and careers of Rienzi and the First Napoleon.)] [494] {415} [The word "nympholepsy" may be paraphrased as "ecstatic vision.""