fetish
Pluralfetishes
- 1Sexual arousal by, or fixation on, something not normally erotic, such as an object or a nonsexual body part, or something abnormally sexual.
The novel's villain has a fetish for silk gloves that he hides from everyone.
She was surprised to learn how common foot fetishes are.
UsageUsually a fetish for something, or with a noun in front, as in a foot fetish.
Similarkink
Note
The sexual sense comes in two frames: a noun in front, as in a foot fetish, or for after it, as in Margaret Atwood's "a fetish for lace-up shoes" in The Handmaid's Tale.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale. ucilnice.arnes.si
- The exact phrase "a fetish for lace-up shoes" occurs in the novel, in the narrator's account. ucilnice.arnes.si
- 2An irrational or abnormally strong fixation on some object or activity, amounting to an obsession.
The company has made a fetish of efficiency, timing even its workers' coffee breaks.
Her fitness fetish has her at the gym twice a day, even on vacation.
UsageOften make a fetish of something. A sort of or a kind of often softens it, since the word is a criticism.
Similarobsession, fixation, mania
Note
Make a fetish of is the idiom to know: George Orwell, in Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), says we have made a sort of fetish of manual work. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs spells it fetich.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- George Orwell wrote Down and Out in Paris and London, first published in 1933. library.brown.edu
- Orwell writes that "we have made a sort of fetish of manual work." gutenberg.net.au
- Edgar Rice Burroughs used the spelling "fetich" in 1912, in Under the Moons of Mars, subsequently published as A Princess of Mars. en.wiktionary.org
- 3An object, such as an amulet, carved figure, or idol, believed to have magical or spiritual power or to embody a spirit.
The healer hung a small fetish of bone and feathers above the sick child's bed.
The hunter wore a small leather pouch around his neck as a fetish against evil spirits.
Note
The history is in the word: English took it from French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, and behind both lies Latin factīcius, "artificial", which also gives factitious. At root, then, a fetish is a made thing credited with power. Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King sets fetishes beside idols, dressed up and receiving sacrifices.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- English fetish came through French fétiche and Portuguese feitiço from Latin factīcius, meaning artificial. en.wiktionary.org
- Factitious derives from the same Latin word. en.wiktionary.org
- The etymological root refers to something made. en.wiktionary.org
- Saul Bellow wrote Henderson the Rain King. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel describes idols and fetishes being dressed up and receiving sacrifices. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origin
Latin factīcius ("artificial") became Portuguese feitiço, which French took as fétiche, and English borrowed the French word. Factitious is a doublet.