misophonia

American  

[mees-oh-foh-nee-uh] / mis oʊˈfoʊ ni ə /

noun

1. Psychiatry. a condition characterized by extreme sensitivity and reactivity to specific, typically repetitive and relatively soft sounds, as breathing, chewing, swallowing, clicking, etc..

   In patients with misophonia, an auditory stimulus provoked an immediate physical reaction, with anger, disgust, and sometimes even impulsive aggression.

---

Other Word Forms

• misophonic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of misophonia

miso- ( def. ) + Greek -phōnia ( see -phony ( def. )); coined by audiologists Pawel J. and Margaret M. Jastreboff in 2001

Example Sentences

Ms Page also paid for her daughter to get therapy from a leading expert on misophonia, but said it was "ineffective"

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2024

Andrea, 62 and from the UK, says she developed misophonia and misokinesia at 13 but that it wasn't recognised at the time.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2024

I live with someone who has misophonia, and there are certain sounds she simply cannot tolerate, through no fault of her own.

From New York Times • May 14, 2023

Some people have a condition called misophonia, which triggers intense reactions to certain sounds.

From The Verge • Nov. 9, 2021

But to someone with a certain type of misophonia, these same sounds can be torturous.

From Scientific American • Sep. 8, 2021