hebephrenia

American  

[hee-buh-free-nee-uh] / ˌhi bəˈfri ni ə /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a type of schizophrenia characterized by emotionless, incongruous, or silly behavior, intellectual deterioration, and hallucinations, frequently beginning insidiously during adolescence.

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hebephrenia British  

/ ˌhiːbɪˈfriːnɪə, ˌhiːbɪˈfrɛnɪk /

noun

1. a form of pubertal schizophrenia, characterized by hallucinations, delusions, foolish behaviour, and senseless laughter

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Other Word Forms

• hebephrenic adjective

Etymology

Origin of hebephrenia

1880–85; < Greek hēbē- ( see hebetic) + -phrenia

Example Sentences

Several cases suffered from hebephrenia or catatonic schizophrenia�conditions that are notoriously resistant to any treatment.

From Time Magazine Archive

In two incredible days of financial hebephrenia, the cavernous trading room echoed with delirious shouts and yells so loud that it was hard for brokers to talk to one another.

From Time Magazine Archive

It sounds curiously unsteady, as if the poor girl in the song were cracking up under the strain, or suffering from hebephrenia.

From Time Magazine Archive

Let us recall also the mental troubles, the psychoses designated by the name hebephrenia.

From Essay on the Creative Imagination by Baron, Albert Heyem Nachmen

No; for when a young man begins to suffer from what the doctors call hebephrenia, the farther he draws away from such snares the nearer he gets to them.

From The Book of Khalid by Rihani, Ameen Fares