kleptomaniac  

Added by Yu-Wen Lien

Definition

NOUN

1- a person evidencing kleptomania*. 

*kleptomania (noun): a persistent neurotic impulse to steal especially without economic motive.

Synonyms: criminal, thief, shoplifter, pilferer

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Kleptomania. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kleptomania

Pronunciation

IPA transcription: /ˌklɛptoˈmenɪæk/

Sample Sentences

1. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich (p. 2).

2. Not all our spelling woes are due to the kleptomania of the English lexicon. —James Harbeck, The Week, 17 Jan. 2022

3. The play takes the time to introduce their respective demons — alcoholism, kleptomania and violence, among them — then moves on with little resolution. —Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2019

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Kleptomania. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kleptomania

Images

Picture from https://www.esquireme.com/culture/interviews/what-it-feels-like-to-be-a-kleptomaniac

Etymology

kleptomaniac. (n.) (1861). A rich thief.

kleptomania (n.) also cleptomania (1830)

From mania + Greek kleptes "thief, a cheater," from kleptein "to steal, act secretly," from PIE *klep- "to steal" (an extension of root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save").

The word was much-derided in 19c. as a fancy term for old-fashioned thievery and an opportunity for the privileged to claim a psychological motive for criminal misbehavior.

Kleptomania. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/kleptomania

Kleptomaniac. (n.d.). Google Books Ngram Viewer. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=kleptomaniac&year_start=1550&year_end=2019&case_insensitive=on&corpus=en-2012&smoothing=3

Translations 

Korean: 도벽병

Chinese: 竊盜癖

Kazakh: клептомания

Russian: клептоман

Portuguese: cleptomaníaco

French: kleptomane

Spanish: cleptómano

German: Kleptomane

Turkish: kleptomani