hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
hi-ˈster-i-kəl 
1
or less commonly hysteric
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
hysterical conditions
2
: feeling or showing extreme and unrestrained emotion
hysterical fans
… the paper did not hesitate to appeal to racial passions in hysterical headlines and rabid editorials.—
The New Yorker
The New Yorker3
informal
: very funny
a hysterical movie/joke
Examples of hysterical in a Sentence
some of the things little kids come out with are hysterical
the police officer assured the mother that there was no need to get hysterical, for most missing children are found safe and sound
upon hearing the announcement that a shark had been sighted, hysterical beachgoers raced out of the water
Recent Examples on the Web
Christina MacSweeney, The Dance and the Fire Catapult, July 29
In Saldaña Paris’s ambitious new novel, three friends return to Cuernavaca, Mexico, a city on fire—wild fires and, soon enough, a kind of hysterical dancing compulsion overcoming the population.
—Literary Hub
july 1, Literary Hub, 1 July 2025
Today, that war is paused under a tenuous ceasefire, and despite the hopes and near hysterical levels of speculation, the regime remains in power.
—Sanam Vakil, Time, 26 June 2025
Trump and White House economic officials have insisted that the U.S. economy will benefit on the whole from higher tax revenues and dismissed critics of their policies as hysterical worrywarts.
—Sylvan Lane, The Hill, 25 June 2025
This particular title, a hysterical New York apartment melodrama in the style of Doris Wishman, was a poor fit for the all-night theaters in Amsterdam’s red-light district.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hysterical
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Literary Hub
july 1, Literary Hub, 1 July 2025
Today, that war is paused under a tenuous ceasefire, and despite the hopes and near hysterical levels of speculation, the regime remains in power.
—Sanam Vakil, Time, 26 June 2025
Trump and White House economic officials have insisted that the U.S. economy will benefit on the whole from higher tax revenues and dismissed critics of their policies as hysterical worrywarts.
—Sylvan Lane, The Hill, 25 June 2025
This particular title, a hysterical New York apartment melodrama in the style of Doris Wishman, was a poor fit for the all-night theaters in Amsterdam’s red-light district.
—Katie Rife, IndieWire, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hysterical
Cite this Entry
“Hysterical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysterical. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
his-ˈter-i-kəl
1
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
2
: feeling or showing unrestrained emotion
hysterical fans
3
informal
: very funny
Medical Definition
hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
-ˈter-i-kəl
variants
also hysteric
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
during hysterical conditions various functions of the human body are disordered—Morris Fishbein
Morris FishbeinLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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