scopophilia
/skɑ.poʊˈfɪ.li.ə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A paraphilia for observing sexually stimulating scenes, as a substitute for participation in a sexual relationship.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "At first feeling somewhat inhibited in his watching by Sam's presence (perhaps due to an inferiority complex), Jake freely indulges in his scopophilia once the other man is gone, growing excited by the sight of this woman whose dance includes undressing, donning some jewels, and then stroking herself."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Hellenic *sképt͏̌omai Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Hellenic *-ós ▲ Ancient Greek -ος (-os)influ. Ancient Greek -ός (-ós) Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós) Proto-Indo-European *bʰil- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *bʰil-o-s Ancient Greek φῐ́λος (phĭ́los) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek φῐλῐ́ᾱ (phĭlĭ́ā)der. English -philia English scopophilia From Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”) + English -philia. First attested in the 1920s. The alternative spellings scoptophilia and skoptophilia originated as mistakes in the translations of the works of Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856–1939).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skɑ.poʊˈfɪ.li.ə/
- British English: /skɒ.pəʊˈfɪ.li.ə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
scoptophilia (alternative)
skoptophilia (alternative)