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neurotic1

[noo-rot-ik, nyoo-]Psychiatry.
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of neurosis.
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noun
  1. a neurotic person.
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Origin of neurotic1

First recorded in 1870–75; neur(osis) + -otic
Related formsneu·rot·ic·al·ly, adverbsem·i·neu·rot·i·cal·ly, adverbun·neu·rot·i·cal·ly, adverb
Can be confusedneurotic psychotic schizoid schizophrenic

neurotic2

[noo-rot-ik, nyoo-]
adjective Pathology.
  1. pertaining to the nerves or to nerve disease; neural: no longer in technical use.
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Origin of neurotic2

First recorded in 1765–75; neuro- + -tic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

manicdistraughtcompulsivedisturbedobsessiveupsetdeviantaberranthystericpsychoneuroticabnormalanxiousdisordereddisorientederraticinhibitednervousoverwroughtunhealthyunstable

Examples from the Web for neurotic

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I was a little impatient with her; I had not suspected that she was so neurotic a woman.

    The Moon and Sixpence

    W. Somerset Maugham

  • Voltaire, the least Puritanical of men, is also the least neurotic.

    Suspended Judgments

    John Cowper Powys

  • Of course, as you say, it's a neurotic temperament that's at the bottom of the trouble.

  • You are vastly more interesting to me because you are in a crux, and neurotic and anæmic.

  • The condition is probably of neurotic origin and tends to recur.

    Essentials of Diseases of the Skin

    Henry Weightman Stelwagon

British Dictionary definitions for neurotic

neurotic

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or afflicted by neurosis
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noun
  1. a person who is afflicted with a neurosis or who tends to be emotionally unstable or unusually anxious
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Derived Formsneurotically, adverb
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 neurotic

adj.

1775, "acting upon or stimulating the nerves," from Greek neuron "nerve" (see neuro-) + -otic, as in hypnotic. Sense of "affected by neurosis" is 1887. The noun meaning "a neurotic person" is from 1896. Related: Neurotically.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
neurotic in Medicine

neurotic

(nu-rŏt′ĭk)
adj.
  1. Of, relating to, derived from, or affected with a neurosis.
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n.
  1. A person suffering from a neurosis.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.