< jargon > /kree'ping fee'-chr-i:`t*s/ A variant of creeping featurism , with its own spoonerism: "feeping creaturitis". Some people like to reserve this form for the disease as it actually manifests in software or hardware , as opposed to the lurking general tendency in designers' minds. -ism means "condition" or "pursuit of", whereas -itis usually means "inflammation of".
[ Jargon File ]
(1997-08-03)