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mass hysteria

American

noun

Psychology.

a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness.

Etymology

Origin of mass hysteria

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

mass hysteria

This is very bad, although hardly a Ghostbusters-style, apocalyptic vision that includes human sacrifice and mass hysteria.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

She has them read books such as The Crucible and the Lord of the Flies to teach about the dangers of mass hysteria and group vilification.

From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2025

In some cases, they have attributed reported health-effects from fume exposure to factors including hyperventilation, jet lag, psychological stress, mass hysteria and malingering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2025

Rome lives in a condition of mass hysteria since the 'Special One' landed in the Italian capital in July 2020.

From BBC ● May 31, 2023

For decades, the Princeton study was cited as evidence that the Halloween broadcast caused mass hysteria.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023