An irresistible urge or desire to do something, especially something harmful or unwise; an itch or craving.
From Latin cacoethes, borrowed from Greek kakos (bad) and ethos (habit, custom). Originally used in medical contexts to describe compulsive urges, it evolved to mean any irresistible but often bad habit.
Roman writers like Juvenal used 'cacoethes scribendi' (the irresistible urge to write) to describe anyone who couldn't stop writing poetry—it's basically the ancient world's version of addiction!
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