1
as in agitated
feeling overwhelming fear or worry
we were delirious with anxiety when the boy failed to return home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in frantic
marked by great and often stressful excitement or activity
rushing about in a delirious state during the holidays
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of delirious
In the summer of 2024, still being treated to keep his cancer at bay, Andrej had suddenly become somewhat delirious, requiring hospital admission to rule out the possibility of infection or, worse, of the cancer having spread to his brain.
—
Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2026
For a wonderful few minutes, the stage of Monmouth University’s Pollack Theater felt like a scene out of a delirious rock and roll fever dream.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2026
The paying public went from raucous to delirious on the next possession, when Curry raced downcourt and splashed a triple off the dribble.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Wearing a towel around his waist in the locker room, Hurley was doused by his delirious players before spiking a ball from floor to ceiling.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for delirious
Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2026
For a wonderful few minutes, the stage of Monmouth University’s Pollack Theater felt like a scene out of a delirious rock and roll fever dream.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2026
The paying public went from raucous to delirious on the next possession, when Curry raced downcourt and splashed a triple off the dribble.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Wearing a towel around his waist in the locker room, Hurley was doused by his delirious players before spiking a ball from floor to ceiling.
—Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for delirious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for delirious
Adjective
-
This tiny bird was alone and agitated.—
Lisa Hughes,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
-
Unproductively, in the confines of the smaller-scale Fyda-Mar stage, the discordant sensory barrage director Oanh Nguyen brings to bear landed on at least one theatergoer as an agitated, irritating distraction.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
The resulting scene is spectacular, with the apartment’s inclined and polished floor giving rise to physical comedy of absurdist pathos in the vein of Jerry Lewis, and Corvette’s frantic struggle for traction revealing the earnest undertones of her fraught visit.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
22 May 2026
-
In the right hands, delivered with an attitude that respects both the subjects and gallery visitors, this frantic exploration of cowboys and the West by art galleries can still have something to say.—
Ray Mark Rinaldi,
Denver Post,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
The actor and hair stylist, who met Weinstein in her twenties while trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood, spent five days on the stand, frequently becoming distraught while divulging deeply personal details about her life and four-year relationship with Weinstein.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
13 May 2026
-
Cho's sister Anny, who was too distraught to appear on camera, told CBS News Chicago that her brother worked primarily in finance but worked for Uber on the side.—
Sara Tenenbaum,
CBS News,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
Dozens of furious Nantes supporters were angry over their team’s abysmal season.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
-
Debuting director Ronan Corrigan keeps things moving at a fast and furious pace.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Reformers were worried that putting more money into the hands of local school districts, without oversight to ensure that it was being spent effectively, would lead to its diversion into administration and more generous union contracts rather than hands-on instruction for kids who needed it most.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
14 May 2026
-
Yu said that, as China has strengthened its social safety net, people are less worried about having to rely on others.—
Janis Mackey Frayer,
NBC news,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
There, a mad, out-of-control Mary lives on as tenaciously as George Washington’s inability to tell a lie.—
Thomas Mallon,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
At this maddest of sporting institutions, that is perhaps the craziest hope of all.—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Americans in that Nebraska unit are isolated and frightened.—
Craig Spencer,
STAT,
13 May 2026
-
While one held the frightened animal’s head, the other — wearing a sweatshirt with an image of the Virgin Mary — applied the iron to a horn.—
Susanne Rust
Follow,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
There is a brightness and its opposite, not darkness but another brightness, just as intense.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
-
Paxton voters are more intense in their contempt for Cornyn than vice versa.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Delirious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/delirious. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
