hysteria

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

/ hɪˈstɛr i ə, -ˈstɪər- /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR hysteria ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc.

Psychoanalysis. a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks, disturbances of sensory and motor functions, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion.

Psychiatry. conversion disorder.

Words nearby hysteria

hysterectomy, hysteresis, hysteresis loop, hysteresis loss, hystereurysis, hysteria, hysteric, hysterical, hysterical personality, hysterical psychosis, hysterics

Compare mass hysteria.

Origin of hysteria

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

OTHER WORDS FROM hysteria

sub·hys·te·ri·a, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for hysteria

At the time, before ISIS had conquered Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, the attack evoked outrage but not hysteria.
French Jihadi Mehdi Nemmouche Is the Shape of Terror to Come|Christopher Dickey|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But this time I can plainly hear, through the rush of words, the faint rattle of hysteria that bespeaks a screw loose somewhere.
The Stacks: Grateful Dead I Have Known|Ed McClanahan|August 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was no instruction, no direction—there was an overwhelming stampede and hysteria.
I Survived a Deadly Shipwreck: Costa Concordia Passengers Tell Their Stories|Barbie Latza Nadeau|May 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even for Daniel Radcliffe, the rumor mill has reached Elevatorgate-levels of hysteria.
Daniel Radcliffe Says No More ‘Harry Potter.’ (He’s Not Engaged, Either.)|Marlow Stern|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST

I thought this was an appropriate observation and still do, despite the hysteria my saying so has ignited on the right.
My Benghazi Scandal|Eleanor Clift|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And Hallet lost even the coherence of hysteria and simply shrieked.
Planet of Dread|Murray Leinster
No hysteria, or I will empty the water bottle on your laces!
Plays: Comrades; Facing Death; Pariah; Easter|August Strindberg
By evening Mrs. Page had worked herself into a state bordering on hysteria.
K|Mary Roberts Rinehart
It was then I became suspicious, and later felt convinced that it was hysteria and not epilepsy with which I had to deal.
New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers|Various
He informed her that she was suffering from hysteria, and recommended her to seek active employment.
The Modern Malady|Cyril Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for hysteria

hysteria

/ (hɪˈstɪərɪə) /

noun

a mental disorder characterized by emotional outbursts, susceptibility to autosuggestion, and, often, symptoms such as paralysis that mimic the effects of physical disordersSee also conversion disorder

any frenzied emotional state, esp of laughter or crying

Word Origin for hysteria

C19: from New Latin, from Latin hystericus hysteric

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

Medical definitions for hysteria

hysteria

[ hĭ-stĕr′ē-ə, -stîr′- ]

n.

A psychiatric disorder characterized by the presentation of a physical ailment without an organic cause.

Excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear.

Other words from hysteria

hys•ter′ic (hĭ-stĕr′ĭk) null adj.

Cultural definitions for hysteria

hysteria

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.