Definition of FETISH
1
a : an object (as a small stone carving of an animal) believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner; broadly : a material object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence b : an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion : prepossession c : an object or bodily part whose real or fantasied presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification and that is an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression
2
: a rite or cult of fetish worshipers
3
: fixation
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Variants of FETISH
fe·tish also fe·tich
Examples of FETISH
He has a fetish for secrecy.
He wore a fetish to ward off evil spirits.
Origin of FETISH
French & Portuguese; French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from feitiço artificial, false, from Latin facticius factitious
First Known Use: 1613
Related to FETISH
Synonyms: fixation (also fetich), idée fixe, mania, obsession, preoccupation, prepossession
Antonyms: hoodoo, jinx
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Other Psychology Terms
hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal
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