mimetic desire

noun

A desire that is imitative, and not related to the desired object's intrinsic value, based on the idea that human desires arise from imitation and competitive behavior in groups.

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Meanings

nounmimetic desire (countable and uncountable, plural mimetic desires)

plural mimetic desires

  1. countableuncountableanthropologyA desire that is imitative, and not related to the desired object's intrinsic value, based on the idea that human desires arise from imitation and competitive behavior in groups.

    Having transcended his own mimetic desires, [Peter] Thiel was now free to capitalise on those of others.

    2025 May 10, Orlando Reade, “The deification of René Girard”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17

Origin

Coined by French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science René Girard in 1961.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

mimetic desire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mimetic%20desire

MLA

“mimetic desire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mimetic%20desire. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mimetic desire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mimetic%20desire.

Source: mimetic desire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.