cacothymia

C3A1C3O1T1H4Y4M3I1A1
UK/kakəʊˈθʌɪmɪə/

noun

An unbalanced state of mind; a mental or glandular disorder as from a malfunctioning thymus gland.

OriginAncient Greek κακός →
Scrabble 22
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncacothymia (plural cacothymias)

plural cacothymias

  1. An unbalanced state of mind; a mental or glandular disorder as from a malfunctioning thymus gland.

    ‘This peevish attention to cleanliness, Jack, this busy preoccupation with dirt,’ said Stephen, shaking his head at the fire, ‘has something of the Brahminical superstition about it. It is not very far removed from nastiness, Jack – from cacothymia.’

    1972, Patrick O'Brian, Post Captain

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekκακός“bad”
  2. Englishcacothymia

From caco- + -thymia. From Ancient Greek κακός (kakós, “bad”) + θύμος (thúmos, “warty excresence like a thyme bud; the thymus gland”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cacothymia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacothymia

MLA

“cacothymia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacothymia. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cacothymia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacothymia.

Source: cacothymia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.