hysteria
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.hys·te·ria
noun \his-ˈter-ē-ə, -ˈtir-\Definition of HYSTERIA
1
: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess <political hysteria>
— hys·ter·ic \-ˈter-ik\ noun
— hys·ter·i·cal \-ˈter-i-kəl\ also hysteric adjective
— hys·ter·i·cal·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
See Examples of HYSTERIA
- A few of the children began to scream, and soon they were all caught up in the hysteria.
- Wartime hysteria led to many unfair accusations of treachery.
- The spreading of the disease caused mass hysteria in the village.
Origin of HYSTERIA
New Latin, from English hysteric, adjective, from Latin hystericus, from Greek hysterikos, from hystera womb; from the Greek notion that hysteria was peculiar to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus
First Known Use: 1801
Related to HYSTERIA
- Synonyms
- agitation, deliriousness, delirium, distraction, fever, feverishness, flap, furor, furore, fury, frenzy, rage, rampage, uproar
Other Psychology Terms
hys·te·ria
noun \his-ˈter-ē-ə, -ˈtir-\ (Medical Dictionary)Medical Definition of HYSTERIA
1
a : a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions without an organic basis b : a similar condition in domestic animals
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess
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