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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Recent Examples of hypochondriac
USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2025
Two hypochondriac siblings have taken to the mountains to avoid all electromagnetic frequencies in this hypnotic lesson in claustrophobia and the evocative power of light.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 8 Oct. 2024
They are widely seen as overly anxious hypochondriacs.
—Evan Malmgren, Harper's Magazine, 21 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Noun
As the moon clashes with Mercury, beware of a hypochondriac streak.
Read the full Cancer Daily Horoscope
Leo (July 23 - August 22)
Emotional ups and downs?
—USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2025
Two hypochondriac siblings have taken to the mountains to avoid all electromagnetic frequencies in this hypnotic lesson in claustrophobia and the evocative power of light.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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
They are widely seen as overly anxious hypochondriacs.
—Evan Malmgren, Harper's Magazine, 21 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypochondriac
Noun
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The faculty experience has been that administrations often side with the complainers.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
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Recognize Quieter Customers Celebrate the non-complainers.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
11 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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There was no legal reason for a prosecutor to do so—the toddler was too young to testify, and disabled from his injuries.—
Charlotte Alter,
Time,
22 Oct. 2025
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What Happens Next SSI is a federal program that provides monthly assistance to low-income seniors over 65, along with individuals who are blind or disabled.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hypochondriac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypochondriac. Accessed 25 Oct. 2025.
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