Word
fetish
US/ˈfɛtɪʃ/
UK/fˈɛtɪʃ/
Definitions
01sexual fixation
n. a strong sexual interest in a specific object, material, or part of the body that is not usually considered sexual.
n. a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, or part of the body.
“He realized he had a leather fetish after buying his first motorcycle jacket.”
“Psychologists distinguish between a mild preference for certain materials and a clinical fetish that becomes necessary for sexual arousal.”
Technical
Usage
Often used with the preposition 'for'.
02an obsession
n. an extremely strong interest in something that seems more important than it really is.
n. an excessive or irrational commitment to or obsession with a particular activity, object, or idea.
“The boss has a fetish for punctuality and gets angry if you are one minute late.”
“The modern fetish for data-driven results often ignores the qualitative human experience that numbers cannot capture.”
Teaching tip
In this non-sexual sense, it is often used metaphorically to criticize someone's over-the-top focus on a rule or object.
Antonyms
03magical object
n. an object that people believe has magical or spiritual powers.
n. an inanimate object worshipped for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit.
“The museum displayed a wooden fetish used by the tribe for protection.”
“Anthropologists observed how the community treated the carved stone as a protective fetish, offering it food during the harvest festival.”
Technical · Formal
Real-World Examples
“This documentary follows the shocking case of Neil Hopper, a top surgeon who had his own legs removed due to a fetish.” “The current protein fetish is merely the latest manifestation of a far larger phenomenon that Michael Pollan memorably referred to as “nutritionism” around 10 years ago.” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fetish