delirium

[ dih-leer-ee-uh m ]

/ dɪˈlɪər i əm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR delirium ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural de·lir·i·ums, de·lir·i·a [dih-leer-ee-uh] /dɪˈlɪər i ə/.

Pathology. a more or less temporary disorder of the mental faculties, as in fevers, disturbances of consciousness, or intoxication, characterized by restlessness, excitement, delusions, hallucinations, etc.

a state of violent excitement or emotion.

Nearby words

Origin of delirium

1590–1600; < Latin dēlīrium frenzy, equivalent to dēlīr(āre) (see deliration) + -ium -ium

Related formssem·i·de·lir·i·um, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for delirium

I spend waking hours in a fog of delirium, punctuated by uncontrollable giggle fits, heart palpitations, and mental anguish.
YouTube’s Sleep Whisperers Are A Sexy Way To Combat Insomnia|Lizzie Crocker|May 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's not delirium tremors and chromosome breakage and only a small number of users would be seriously harmed.
Weed Gave My Family Everything—Then Took It Away|Abby Haglage|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Republicans were never overwhelmed by Mitt Romney; the Democratic delirium for Barack Obama faded two recovery summers ago.
The Penn & Teller Election|David Frum|April 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He was the delirium of the Revolution, himself a living delirium!
History of the Girondists, Volume I|Alphonse de Lamartine

Dannie was talking softly in his delirium, in the broken sentences that tell of rapid respiration.
Pickett's Gap|Homer Greene
In Begmand's cottage Marianne lay raving in delirium, and the neighbour who attended her said she had the fever.
Garman and Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
No; what was alarming at Poor Luck Barrens was not a frenzy of insanity—it was the delirium of pneumonia.
Billy Topsail, M.D.|Norman Duncan
In mild cases it may continue until the occurrence of convalescence, but in grave cases it is soon lost in delirium.
A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I|Various

British Dictionary definitions for delirium

delirium

/ (dɪˈlɪrɪəm) /

noun plural -liriums or -liria (-ˈlɪrɪə)

a state of excitement and mental confusion, often accompanied by hallucinations, caused by high fever, poisoning, brain injury, etc

violent excitement or emotion; frenzy

Derived Formsdeliriant, adjective

Word Origin for delirium

C16: from Latin: madness, from dēlīrāre, literally: to swerve from a furrow, hence be crazy, from de- + līra ridge, furrow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for delirium

delirium

1590s, from Latin delirium "madness," from deliriare "be crazy, rave," literally "go off the furrow," a plowing metaphor, from phrase de lire, from de "off, away" (see de-) + lira "furrow, earth thrown up between two furrows," from PIE *leis- "track, furrow."

Medicine definitions for delirium

delirium

[ dĭ-lîr′ē-əm ]

n. pl. de•lir•i•ums

A temporary state of mental confusion resulting from high fever, intoxication, shock, or other causes, and characterized by anxiety, disorientation, memory impairment, hallucinations, trembling, and incoherent speech.