Standard Lemma guide

bovarysm

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

An imagined or unrealistic conception of oneself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An anxiety to escape from a social or sentimental condition judged to be unsatisfactory, sometimes by building a fictitious personality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Named after the character of Emma Bovary in Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: bovarisme — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Czech: bovarysmus — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Czech: bovarismus — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Esperanto: bovarismo — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • French: bovarysme — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • French: bovarisme — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • German: Bovarysme — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Greek: μποβαρισμός (bovarismós) — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Italian: bovarismo — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Japanese: ボバリズム (bobarizumu) — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Japanese: ボバリスム (bobarisumu) — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Korean: 보바리즘 (bobarijeum) — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Polish: bovaryzm — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Polish: bowaryzm — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Portuguese: bovarismo — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Romanian: bovarism — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Russian: бовари́зм (bovarízm) — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Serbo-Croatian: боварѝзам — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Serbo-Croatian: bovarìzam — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Slovak: bovaryzmus — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Spanish: bovarismo — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition
  • Swedish: bovarysm — anxiety to escape from an unsatisfactory social or sentimental condition