chaophilia

English

Etymology

Formed as cha(os) +‎ -philia; equivalent to a supposed Ancient Greek etymon of the form *χαοφιλία (khaophilía).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kā'ŏfĭʹlĭə, IPA^(key): /ˌkeɪɒˈfɪlɪə/

Noun

chaophilia (uncountable)

1. (rare nonce word) Spurious overemphasis of or oversubscription to chaos theory and/or its characteristic concepts.
   • 1997, ICPHS, Diogenes, issues 177–180, page 179

     [H]ow can we not deplore the all too frequent distortions of “importations” by anthropologists who think they are “hardening” their discipline by consistently using the language of the “hard” sciences? This is a particularly pernicious form of popularization…Whence the “Gödelism,” “chaophilia,” and other “complexolatries” of certain social scientists, who are doing nothing to help their own disciplines[.]