Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

creeping featurism
     
         /kree'ping fee'chr-izm/ (Or "feature creep") A
        systematic tendency to load more {chrome} and {features} onto
        systems at the expense of whatever elegance they may have
        possessed when originally designed.  "The main problem with
        {BSD} Unix has always been creeping featurism."
     
        More generally, creeping featurism is the tendency for
        anything to become more complicated because people keep saying
        "Gee, it would be even better if it had this feature too".
        The result is usually a patchwork because it grew one ad-hoc
        step at a time, rather than being planned.  Planning is a lot
        of work, but it's easy to add just one extra little feature to
        help someone, and then another, and another, ....  When
        creeping featurism gets out of hand, it's like a cancer.
     
        Usually this term is used to describe computer programs, but
        it could also be said of the federal government, the IRS 1040
        form, and new cars.  A similar phenomenon sometimes afflicts
        conscious redesigns; see {second-system effect}.  See also
        {creeping elegance}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1997-08-03)