Meanings
beetlemania1
- informaluncountableEnthusiasm for beetles.
I take a few steps and cast again to the next pocket; another fish follows the beetle and strikes as I pull it across. I'm breathing shallow and fast and grinning, all symptoms of Beetlemania.
2006, James Barilla, West With the Rise: Fly-Fishing Across America, Charlottesville, V.A.; London: University of Virginia Press, →ISBN, page 362 more examples
Have a sudden hankering to get a bug while you're out shopping? No problem. Southeast Asian rhinoceros beetles can be purchased at Japan's version of Home Depot. It's "beetlemania" to be sure.
2011, Jessica Speart, Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 41In other words, the two men who were responsible for unravelling the greatest mystery of life both suffered from beetlemania. This is not the weirdest of all possible coincidences; beetling and bug-hunting were more mainstream activities in Victorian times.
2014, Simon Barnes, Ten Million Aliens: A Journey Through the Entire Animal Kingdom, London: Short Books, →ISBN, page 449
Beetlemania2
- informaluncountableEnthusiasm for Volkswagen Beetle automobiles.
Meet the Mexico City family keeping Beetlemania alive
2019 December 6, “(article title)”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Apr 20242 more examples
The outburst of Beetlemania has created long waiting lists at many of Volkswagen's 600 U.S. dealerships, some of which were ready to give up on the German automaker a few years ago.
1998 April 22, Warren Brown, “Area Auto Dealers Overwhelmed by Beetle Demand”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Apr 2024Germany may have been the Beetle's birthplace, and Mexico its adopted home, but Beetlemania was a worldwide craze.
2019 July 15, Jude Webber, Alan Hernández Pastén, “Mexican Beetlemania outlives demise of the Love Bug”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2022
Origin
Beetlemania · noun
From Beetle + -mania, jokingly playing on Beatlemania.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
beetlemania. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beetlemania
“beetlemania.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beetlemania. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beetlemania,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beetlemania.
Source: beetlemania on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.