neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis nu̇-ˈrō-səs 

nyu̇-

plural neuroses nu̇-ˈrō-ˌsēz 

nyu̇-

: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (such as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)

Examples of neurosis in a Sentence

LBJ by legend watched the evening news about Vietnam simultaneously on three TVs, a ticket to a neurosis and night sweats. —Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 2 Dec. 2005

He's self-conscious about few things, period, and so utterly lacking in neurosis that it's unnerving, frankly. —Ned Zeman, Vanity Fair, February 2001

None of this official intervention did much to calm the fretfulness about maidservants, for the anxiety about their being both unreliable yet indispensable marked the birth of an authentically bourgeois neurosis. —Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 1988

Recent Examples on the Web

That may sound like a vague virtue, but Dortmund have received a lot of criticism this season — rightly — and that has bred neuroses throughout their team. —Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025

Leading a cast and writers’ room riddled with neuroses, his poker face and minimalist reactions have often left a trail of insecure young comedians on edge. —Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2025

But in an atmosphere where the gentle Peanuts was the cartoon hit of the day, there were no takers for his radical cartooning that satirized the neuroses and hypocrisies of society — until the Voice was launched. —Chris Koseluk, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2025

A touch of neurosis, a lot of laughs and plenty of profound insights could be found at The Hollywood Reporter’s Writer Roundtable, where six scribes who crafted seven of 2024’s top screenplays gathered for a lively conversation in November. —Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin neurōsis "any of various conditions (as coma or paralysis) involving impairment of the sensory and motor systems without local disease or fever," from Greek neûron "sinew, tendon, nerve" + New Latin -ōsis -osis — more at nerve entry 1

Note: The Latin term neurosis was introduced in the sense given in the etymology ("sensus et motus laesi, sine pyrexia et sine morbo locali") by the Scottish physician William Cullen (1710-90) in Synopsis nosologiæ methodicæ (Edinburgh, 1769), p. 274. Cullen later used the word in English: "In this place I propose to comprehend, under the title of Neuroses, all those preternatural affections of sense or motion, which are without pyrexia as part of the primary disease; and all those which do not depend upon a topical affection of the organs, but upon a more general affection of the nervous system, and of those powers on which sense and motion more especially depend." (First Lines of the Practice of Physic, for the Use of the Students in the University of Edinburgh, vol. 3 [Edinburgh, 1783], p. 2).

First Known Use

circa 1784, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing neurosis

• anxiety neurosis

Rhymes for neurosis

• cirrhosis
• fibrosis
• gliosis
• hypnosis
• ichthyosis
• ketosis
• kurtosis
• lordosis
• meiosis
• miosis
• mitosis
• mycosis

Kids Definition

neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis n(y)u̇-ˈrō-səs 

plural neuroses -ˈrō-ˌsēz 

: any of various mental and emotional disorders that affect only part of a person's personality, are less serious than a psychosis, and involve unusual or extreme reactions (as abnormal fears, depression, or anxiety) to stress and conflict

Medical Definition

neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis n(y)u̇-ˈrō-səs 

plural neuroses -ˌsēz 

: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)