Fetish
noun ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Something which is believed to possess, contain, or cause spiritual or magical powers; an amulet or a talisman. countable, uncountable
"The idols and fetishes were being dressed up and whitewashed, receiving sacrifices."
- 2 excessive or irrational devotion to some activity wordnet
- 3 A figure representing the spirit of a deity, human, or animal; an idol or voodoo doll. countable, dated, uncountable
"This was the trunk of a large wooden doll […] now entirely defaced by a long career of vicarious suffering. […] The last nail had been driven in with a fiercer stroke than usual, for the Fetish on that occasion represented aunt Glegg"
- 4 a charm superstitiously believed to embody magical powers wordnet
- 5 Sexual fixation to or arousal at something abnormally sexual or nonsexual, such as an object or a nonsexual part of the body. countable, uncountable
"I know a guy who has a foot fetish."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a form of sexual desire in which gratification depends to an abnormal degree on some object or item of clothing or part of the body wordnet
- 7 An irrational or abnormal preoccupation or fixation on some object or activity; an obsession. countable, uncountable
"He has been talking about the same topic for hours on end, I suspect he may have a fetish"
- 8 A recurrent theme of a specific thing. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"It's not like I've got any special interest in gym shorts - I've not got that fetish, I think."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Latin factus Latin -īcius Latin factīcius Portuguese feitiçobor. French fétichebor. English fetish Borrowed from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from Latin factīcius (“artificial”). Doublet of factitious.