as in complainer
a person who is often or always worried about being ill
My brother is a real hypochondriac. Every time he reads about some new disease, he thinks he has it.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hypochondriac
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025
To position Cohn in bed next to Trump, a notorious hypochondriac, highlights their strained relationship as Trump rose and Cohn fell in New York high society.
—Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 6 June 2025
The late actress later won an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy in 1992 for her role as hypochondriac Eve in CBS’ Northern Exposure.
—Escher Walcott, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Noun
Goosed along by Cliff Martinez’s ghostly electronic score, Soderbergh taps into our collective inner hypochondriac, making every character’s sniffle or rubbed eye bristle with potential danger.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025
To position Cohn in bed next to Trump, a notorious hypochondriac, highlights their strained relationship as Trump rose and Cohn fell in New York high society.
—Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
Adjective
The play’s hypochondriac paterfamilias Argan (Mark Linn-Baker) would benefit from more attention, too, though his doctors (Arnie Burton, in a variety of wigs) only see a fool.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 6 June 2025
The late actress later won an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy in 1992 for her role as hypochondriac Eve in CBS’ Northern Exposure.
—Escher Walcott, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypochondriac
Noun
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If family needs cause drama, set kind boundaries and explain them to any complainers.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
2 Jan. 2026
-
The faculty experience has been that administrations often side with the complainers.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Her mother, Pattie (Alli Mauzey), is ludicrously hypochondriacal, as if atoning for the chromosomal accident that produced her quick-aging child.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
8 Dec. 2021
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Many women with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease first named in 1877, were misdiagnosed as mentally unwell and dismissed as hypochondriacal well into the 20th century.—
Elinor Cleghorn,
WSJ,
12 June 2021
Adjective
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The Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program primarily helps tax filers with incomes below $69,000, those who are disabled and those who are not proficient in English.—
Jeanne Sahadi,
CNN Money,
12 Feb. 2026
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Menasche believes the lot, which is only open overnight, is an ineffective offering, especially for disabled and low-income individuals who may not be able to afford the gas required to drive in and out every day.—
Blake Nelson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hypochondriac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypochondriac. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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