hyperventilate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of hyperventilate
First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from hyperventilation
Explanation
To hyperventilate is to breathe so unusually fast that you feel dizzy or panicked. You might hyperventilate after exercising too hard on a hot day, or because you're anxious about speaking in front of a crowd. When you hyperventilate, your body starts to lose carbon dioxide much faster than normal. This is what causes wooziness or even fainting in people who hyperventilate. There are many reasons for this rapid breathing, including being at a very high altitude, reacting badly to a medication, or just feeling very fearful. Hyperventilate combines the Greek hyper-, "over" or "beyond," and ventilate, from the Latin ventilare, "fan" or "agitate."
Vocabulary lists containing hyperventilate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before some of you hyperventilate, that huge agenda is not what Andy Burnham is likely to argue for on day one.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Charlotte advises me to breathe deeply and try not to hyperventilate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Your body spasms and you start to hyperventilate.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2024
The game experience at the Duchess was filled with anxious chatter interrupted by loud bursts of joy when the Huskies scored, with the fourth quarter providing tension enough to make Husky fans everywhere hyperventilate.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024
When out is used as a verb, I start to hyperventilate.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
After their Game 7 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays, I was so spent that I hyperventilated for what felt like an hour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
About one-third of the fatigue patients hyperventilated, while just one person in the control group did.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2025
Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, it is a crowded, hyperventilated portrait stuffed with archival and original material, including interviews with Morricone shot in 2015 and 2016.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
Spence got down on the floor, speaking calmly as the young woman hyperventilated.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
Eager now, he hyperventilated a final time, huffing high in the blackness.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Wall Street spent Monday hyperventilating about margin hikes on silver traders.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025
If you’re hyperventilating at this point, calm down.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2025
Two years ago, I was in a crowded restaurant when I started hyperventilating so badly a waitress rushed over to bring me water, fearing I was about to pass out.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2023
Center Duke Clemens, a fifth-year senior, told Moore to calm down and breathe during spring practice when the young quarterback appeared to be on the verge of hyperventilating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2023
I looked away before I could start hyperventilating.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
