1
as in bursts
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
a paroxysm of laughter greeted the pratfall
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in upheavals
a violent disturbance (as of the political or social order)
Darwin's introduction of the theory of evolution created paroxysms in both religion and science that are still being felt today
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paroxysms
The post is now nearing a hundred million views and inspiring paroxysms of millennial self-reckoning.
—
Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paroxysms
Noun
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The sound of wheels hitting concrete blends with bursts of laughter and cheers.—
Mona Darwish,
Oc Register,
10 Sep. 2025
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One emerging approach gaining traction is called microlearning, a strategy that delivers academic content in short bursts rather than lengthy lessons.—
Hannah Nwoko,
Parents,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In an alternate timeline without COVID-19 and the cultural upheavals of 2020, Bennet might be the executive editor of The New York Times.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The United States and South Korea previously butted heads over how to handle the threat from North Korea, and there have been periodic public upheavals in Korean public opinion over tragic incidents involving American troops stationed on the peninsula.—
KURT M. CAMPBELL,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But when his streams became more reactionary, filled with outbursts, expletives, and certified crashouts over losing levels, subscribers flocked in.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
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This student’s outbursts had been an ongoing issue for three years, and Elliot quickly realized that few teachers had received the necessary restraint training to handle this student.—
IndyStar,
IndyStar,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For more severe and potentially life-threatening infections, symptoms may include headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.—
Matthew Robinson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
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An hour later, Bradley Fullerton’s cellmate sought help because Fullerton was having convulsions, according to the filing.—
Julia Marnin,
Miami Herald,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The test marked a welcome victory for SpaceX and the budding launch vehicle, which suffered in-flight upper stage explosions during each of this year's three Starship launches leading up to Flight 10.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The barrage appeared to target several Ukrainian regions, with local authorities reporting explosions in the western regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lutsk.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Kurzweil’s singularity parallels ideas from Italian and Russian futurists amid the electrical and mechanical revolutions that took place at the turn of the 20th century.—
Sonja Fritzsche,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
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In particular, revolutions like special relativity and general relativity, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, and the Big Bang and cosmic inflation completely overthrew our prior picture of how things actually behave.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In this demo expedition, his group deployed hyper-tech robotic explorers to map a lava tube on a Mars analog site, in the Spanish Canary Islands, which, like the Hawaiian archipelago, were produced via a series of volcanic eruptions.—
Kevin Holden Platt,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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Around the time of this flip, solar activity gradually ramps up, causing more solar eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass ejections.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
6 Sep. 2025
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However, large earthquakes can strike on active faults thousands of years apart.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Paroxysms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paroxysms. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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