hyper

play

adjective hy·per \ˈhī-pər\

Definition of hyper

1 : high-strung, excitable; also : highly excited was a little hyper after drinking too much coffee
2 : extremely active hyper children

See hyper defined for English-language learners

Examples of hyper in a Sentence

I get a little hyper when I drink too much coffee.
she's so hyper that she's the last person you'd want to turn to in an emergency

Recent Examples of hyper from the Web

But when everyone is so hyper-connected, such conflict may seem like an inevitable part of modern life.

— carey purcell, Glamour, "It’s OK to Not Be Facebook Friends With Your S.O.", 6 July 2017
Wise use of force Washington’s bold vision to wear down the British, combined with hyper-awareness of his relative weakness in tactics, led to great intentionality in the use of his forces.

— j. paul pope, Fortune, "5 Lessons Trump’s America Can Learn From 1776", 4 July 2017
Any one of these hyper-speed projectiles could cause impact damage ranging from divots to explosions.

— charlie wood, The Christian Science Monitor, "As space junk soars, science turns to nature for ideas", 3 July 2017
The magical appeal of Circus 1903 is a new breed of pachyderm: hyper-realistic, life-size puppets, by the creators of the Broadway smash War Horse.

— holly millea, Smithsonian, "Step Right Up! See the Reinvention of the Great American Circus!", 29 June 2017
And for eastern hemlock trees, adelgids stimulate a hyper-sensitivity response, like an allergic reaction, McCullough said.

— keith matheny, Detroit Free Press, "Invasive Asian bug threatening Michigan's hemlock trees", 27 June 2017
Fortuitously, that was exactly what Kalanick's $70 billion start-up, which was increasingly a hyper-masculine disaster, required.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "What’s Arianna’s Endgame at Uber?", 26 June 2017
The Datafolha polling institute showed over the weekend that just 7 percent of those questioned approved of Temer’s administration, the worst since the country was embroiled in a crisis of hyper-inflation on the watch of President Jose Sarney.

— mauricio savarese, The Seattle Times, "Brazil’s crisis deepens as president accused of corruption", 26 June 2017
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A hyper-aggressive black bear moved back and forth between two women in a ferocious attack earlier this week that left a newlywed dead and her co-worker injured in a remote area of Alaska, their employer said Thursday.

— CBS News, "Employer says hyper-aggressive bear attacked newlywed, co-worker", 23 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hyper'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hyper

short for hyperactive

NEW!

First Known Use: circa 1942

See Words from the same year

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

hyper-

prefix hy·per

Definition of hyper-

1 : above : beyond : super- hypermarket
2a : excessively hypersensitiveb : excessive hyperemia
3 : that is or exists in a space of more than three dimensions hyperspace
4 : bridging points within an entity (such as a database or network) nonsequentially hypertext