Meanings
- humorousinformaluncountableboard gamesThe excessive admiration of, and tendency to be easily distracted by, the visually appealing components of a board game (especially a Eurogame).
Carcassonne is definitely more complex than I thought the first time I played it. I bought it on an attack of parakeetitis (mmm... pretty pieces), and thought after the first playing that the whole game was winning farms.
2002 June 25, Jordan Wolbrum, “Re: Villa Paletti winner of Spiel des Jahres 2002”, in rec.games.board (Usenet)2 more examples
But $20 games are hard pressed. It's expensive enough to make me think twice, not pretty enough to give me a case of parakeetitis and make me want to impulse buy. (Expensive games do get impulse bought if I trust the company or really like the theme).
1998 July 7, Brian Bankler, “Re: Origins report”, in rec.games.board (Usenet)These components are much harder to duplicate, and so your homebrew answer is unrealistic unless you're willing to spend lots of time cutting cards and painting little wooden blocks […]. This discussion then basically boils down to whether or not you suffer from incurable parakeetitis, which I do. I need to see all the shiny little parts, or something's missing...
1999 July 2, Derk Solko, “Re: Playing the game vs. preserving the components”, in rec.games.board (Usenet)
Origin
From parakeet + -itis. From the humorous association of such a player's behaviour with parakeets' repetition of human phrases and supposed affinity for shiny or colourful objects.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
parakeetitis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parakeetitis
“parakeetitis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parakeetitis. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parakeetitis,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parakeetitis.
Source: parakeetitis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.