Meanings
- uncountableAn obsessive desire to collect things; collectomania.
Collectionitis strikes in the most unexpected quarters: it has metamorphosed a butcher into an expert on ancient porcelain and a cab driver into an Orientalist.
1960, Harper's Magazine, volume 2202 more examples
His answer was one which, with appropriate variations, might have been given by any one of those who, like himself, have been willing sufferers from some form of collectionitis.
1944, Douglas & Elizabeth Rigby, Lock, Stock and Barrel, page 317With his passion for collecting, Hartwig had formed a habit that is peculiar to those who suffer from ‘collectionitis’: the belief that he alone had the right to talk about a vase that he owned, even after he had parted with it.
2001, Philippe Rouet, translated by Liz Nash, Approaches to the study of Attic vases: Beazley and Pottier, page 33
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From collection + -itis. Compare French collectionnite.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
collectionitis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/collectionitis
“collectionitis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/collectionitis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “collectionitis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/collectionitis.
Source: collectionitis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.