automaniac

English

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -eɪniæk

Etymology 1

Of auto- (“oneself”) +‎ -maniac (“one who experiences obsession”). 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”). 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

an enthusiast of automobiles and motoring

• Polish: automaniak m, automaniaczka f