cacoethes

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cacoethes an urge to do something inadvisable; the word is recorded from the mid 16th century, and comes via Latin from Greek kakoēthes, from kakos ‘bad’ + ēthos ‘disposition’.
cacoethes scribendi an incurable passion for writing; the phrase is originally a quotation from the Roman satirist Juvenal (ad c.60–c.130).

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