hysteria

[ hi-ster-ee-uh, -steer- ]

noun

1. an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc.
2. Psychoanalysis. a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks, disturbances of sensory and motor functions, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion.
3. Psychiatry. conversion disorder.

hysteria

/ hɪˈstɪərɪə /

noun

1. a mental disorder characterized by emotional outbursts, susceptibility to autosuggestion, and, often, symptoms such as paralysis that mimic the effects of physical disorders See also conversion disorder
2. any frenzied emotional state, esp of laughter or crying

hysteria

1. A complex neurosis in which psychological conflict is turned into physical symptoms, such as amnesia , blindness, and paralysis , that have no underlying physical cause. Early in his career, Sigmund Freud worked on hysteria.

Other Words From

• subhys·teri·a noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hysteria¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; hyster(ic) + -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of hysteria¹

C19: from New Latin, from Latin hystericus hysteric

Example Sentences

“Before every election, American authorities and media descend into hysteria about ‘Russain disinformation and inference,’” the embassy wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

This explains the moral hysteria over gender-affirming care for minors that has spread across the country’s red states.

From Los Angeles Times

Giving evidence remotely from prison, he claimed it was not him who coined the term "cleavage-sparing mastectomy" and said it was the phrase that had "caused the hysteria".

From BBC

Adelaide worries there could be “a wave of hysteria in the student community” because the anxiety about the total cost of going to university is high.

From BBC

And hysteria, marked by uncontrolled emotion and frenetic excitement, was the manner in which these investigations into consciousness were conducted.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• agitation
• delirium
• excitement
• frenzy
• madness
• nervousness
• panic