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A.Word.A.Day--kleptomaniac

kleptomaniac (klep-tuh-MAY-nee-ak) noun

A person having an obsessive urge to steal, driven by emotional disturbance rather than material need.

[From Greek klepto-, from kleptes (thief) + -mania (madness).]

From The Devil's Dictionary: Kleptomaniac, n. A rich thief.

"[Winona Ryder] told the court, which convicted her of theft, that she was getting into character for the part of a kleptomaniac in a new film."
Sarah Boseley; Why Do Women Steal?; The Guardian (London, UK); Jul 21, 2003.

See more usage examples of kleptomaniac in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

This week's A.Word.A.Day presents five words from The Devil's Dictionary by satirist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914). First published as The Cynic's Word Book, "a name which the author had not the power to reject or happiness to approve", the Dictionary is a compilation of witty, aphoristic definitions he penned over the years for the San Francisco journal Wasp. His succinct style, acid wit, and keen observation of life are evident in almost every entry, such as: "Apologize - To lay the foundation for a future offence", and "Politics - A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage." Like all genuine satire, while these are funny there is more than a grain of truth in them.

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