noun
fetish
FEHT-ihsh
noun
1
An object believed to hold magical or spiritual power.
"The carved figure was treated as a fetish believed to ward off illness."
2
A strong, often sexual, fixation on a particular object or body part.
"He has a fetish for leather boots."
3
An excessive or irrational obsession with something.
"She makes a fetish of punctuality, arriving twenty minutes early to everything."
How to Use Fetish
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn object of magical belief, or an intense fixation — often sexual — on one particular thing.
Common pairings
sexual fetish
make a fetish of something
Word Forms
fetishes plural
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The carved figure was treated as a _____ believed to ward off illness.
Etymology
From French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço ("charm, sorcery"), ultimately from Latin factīcius ("artificial") — the same root as factitious.