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hysteric

[hi-ster-ik]
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noun
  1. Usually hysterics. a fit of uncontrollable laughter or weeping; hysteria.
  2. a person subject to hysteria.
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adjective
  1. hysterical.
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Origin of hysteric

1650–60; < Latin hystericus < Greek hysterikós, suffering in the womb, hysterical (reflecting the Greeks' belief that hysteria was peculiar to women and caused by disturbances in the uterus); see hystero-, -ic
Related formsan·ti·hys·ter·ic, noun, adjective
Can be confusedhysterics histrionics
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

manicdistraughtcompulsivedisturbedobsessivelaughterlevityhilarityrejoicingflare-upconvulsionmadnessfurortemperfuryviolencebitternessresentmentexcitementmania

Examples from the Web for hysteric

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Gertrude bending over me in hysteric screams—so they told me afterwards.

    Shoulder-Straps

    Henry Morford

  • Miss Corelli's force is hysteric, but it is sometimes very real.

    My Contemporaries In Fiction

    David Christie Murray

  • After that, evidently the first attack of hysteric character followed.

    Psychotherapy

    Hugo Mnsterberg

  • Red Jim stumbled to his feet with an inarticulate and hysteric exclamation.

  • In hysteric inversions of motion is some other part too much stimulated?

    Zoonomia, Vol. II

    Erasmus Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for hysteric

hysteric

noun
  1. a hysterical person
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adjective
  1. hysterical
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See also hysterics

Word Origin

C17: from Latin hystericus literally: of the womb, from Greek husterikos, from hustera the womb; from the belief that hysteria in women originated in disorders of the womb
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 hysteric

adj.

1650s, from Latin hystericus, from Greek hysterikos "belonging to the womb" (see hysterical). As a noun from 1751.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
hysteric in Medicine

hysteric

(hĭ-stĕr′ĭk)
n.
  1. A person suffering from hysteria.
  2. hysterics A fit of uncontrollable laughing or crying.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.