as in paranoid
having or showing a very nervous or disordered state of mind
Her neurotic tendencies tend to manifest in her obsessive need for cleanliness. Our dog is a bit neurotic; she tends to panic around strangers.
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Recent Examples of neurotic
When a conversation ends without a real answer, when a situation is explained away rather than actually explained, the discomfort is not neurotic or petty.
—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
Lear would provide comment through this portrait of a neurotic, frayed woman and the people who surround her.
—
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Yenor’s suggestion that feminism—with its attendant horrors of work outside the home, birth control, and financial independence—has made women neurotic and dependent on pharmaceuticals is now an article of faith on the right.
—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Field’s neurotic, kvetching energy and Pullman’s drawlingly laidback presence spark off each other to amiable and spontaneous effect — enough so to show up the contrivances in the film’s secondary characters and subplots.
—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for neurotic
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
Lear would provide comment through this portrait of a neurotic, frayed woman and the people who surround her.
—
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Yenor’s suggestion that feminism—with its attendant horrors of work outside the home, birth control, and financial independence—has made women neurotic and dependent on pharmaceuticals is now an article of faith on the right.
—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Field’s neurotic, kvetching energy and Pullman’s drawlingly laidback presence spark off each other to amiable and spontaneous effect — enough so to show up the contrivances in the film’s secondary characters and subplots.
—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for neurotic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for neurotic
paranoid
Adjective
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She’s been attacked, her puritanical sister has landed from America, and murder is starting to feel less like a paranoid theory than a reasonable working assumption.
-
Initially skeptical, Tom becomes increasingly paranoid after a sailor who got lost in the fog essentially goes mad, with his eyes turning white just before dying.
Cite this Entry
“Neurotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/neurotic. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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