manía

obsession

noun mah-NEE-ah Rare

Origin: from Greek mania (madness)

Also means

mania, quirk

Usage Note

Manía spans a wide register — from a psychiatric diagnosis to an everyday quirk or pet peeve (tiene la manía de morder el lápiz = he has the habit of chewing his pencil). The phrase tener manía a alguien means to have it in for someone or to take a dislike to them. The related adjective is maniático/a (obsessive, fussy).

Examples

"Tiene la manía de ordenar todo por colores."

Natural Translation

She has the obsession of ordering everything by colour.

Literal Translation

She has the quirk of arranging everything by colours.

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