DELIRIOUS Synonyms: 99 Similar and Opposite Words

delirious

adjective

di-ˈlir-ē-əs

Definition of delirious

as in agitated

feeling overwhelming fear or worry we were delirious with anxiety when the boy failed to return home

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in frantic

marked by great and often stressful excitement or activity rushing about in a delirious state during the holidays

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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 The new album reunited the Jayhawks with storied producer Bob Ezrin, who guided some of the most delirious and grandiose rock records of the 1970s, from Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Lou Reed to Pink Floyd’s The Wall. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 31 Aug. 2026 There’s a dark and delirious symmetry to the way Jordan and Gareth mirror each other’s self-hatred and desperate longing. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 Instead, New York mounted an improbable if not impossible resurrection, Anunoby’s tip-in providing the exclamation point to the delirious comeback. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026 Moore said older patients can become disoriented and delirious after long periods in the ER, raising the risk of falls. — Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for delirious

Recent Examples of Synonyms for delirious

Adjective

Pressed by a reporter on a Zoom call about specific players, Wade grew agitated and defiant.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
When the door finally opened, an agitated young man who resembled Ryan Gosling (Rett Keeter) shined an LED flashlight directly into my eyes, a gesture that would become familiar over the next hour.

— Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of agitated

Adjective

Keeping The Faith So all’s well that ends well, and frantic, for Halfway 2 Jesus, Rock’s 13th album and the follow-up to 2022’s angry, politically charged Bad Reputation.

— Gary Graff, Billboard, 15 Oct. 2026
Newly obtained 911 audio is shedding light on the frantic response when Hayden Panettiere was found unresponsive in a Greenville, South Carolina, apartment in August.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of frantic

Adjective

In a move that had the audience distraught but should’ve been expected at some point, Guillermo and Witney are sent home Tuesday night.

— Katie Campione, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
There were plenty of disappointed and angry members of Gator Nation on Saturday after Florida's surprising loss to South Carolina in Gainesville, but none may have been more distraught than a young member of Jon Sumrall's own household.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of distraught

Adjective

Before long there were three squad cars with lights flashing parked in the drive, with a furious Grandpa Joe trying to sort out the trouble.

— Kerry Kennedy, Vanity Fair, 13 Oct. 2026
The conflicts are raw and unresolved, and Churchill forces theatergoers to make up their own minds about the characters’ furious dialect.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of furious

Adjective

Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary theorist and author of the groundbreaking best seller The Selfish Gene (1976), among many other books, appears to have gone a bit mad.

— James Gleick, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026
Mel Brooks’ comedy The Producers also took a poke at that mad man with Springtime for Hitler.

— Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of mad

Adjective

Discovering that your identity has been stolen can leave you feeling angry, frightened and unsure where to begin.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
In one video, a young orangutan can be seen crouching in the corner of a small, dark crate, its frightened eyes wide open.

— Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of frightened

Adjective

George Bonanno, a psychologist at Columbia University, explains that many people who have intense symptoms initially—such as nightmares and flashbacks—won’t develop PTSD.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Still, the competition among jewelers is becoming more intense, not only for sports team’s commissions but also to design ever flashier pieces with intricate details.

— Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 20 Oct. 2026