neurotic
1 Americanadjective
noun
adjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of neurotic1
First recorded in 1870–75; neur(osis) + -otic
Origin of neurotic2
Explanation
If you call someone neurotic, you are saying she is stressed out. Neurotic can be a psychological term or it can be used more loosely. You may have a neurotic tendency to bite your nails or to pull out your hair. Ouch. The adjective neurotic refers to someone who shows signs of mental disturbance but does not indicate complete psychosis. Neurotic comes from neuro-, from a Greek word for "nerve." It can also describe someone with neurotic behaviors, so you can think of a neurotic as someone who has a particularly bad case of nerves.
Vocabulary lists containing neurotic
Body Parts: Neur ("Nerve")
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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:
Psychiatrists described him as neurotic, with a tendency to ruminate and worry, and said he had developed a "rigid sense of right and wrong".
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
They are the diametrical opposites of Angela and Joe: calm and free, while their downstairs neighbors are neurotic and toxically codependent.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
On the darker side, I’ve seen gluttonous greed and an utterly neurotic need to fit in and be seen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Richards did tell Lindo that he needed to jettison some of the neurotic choices he was making as an actor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
I’ve been as saving as an exceptionally neurotic magpie all my life, and I still have the next-to-the-last draft of the letter I wrote to Sister Irma that June night in 1939.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
They attack the very shelter nature had given them, something neurotics of all animal classes can relate to.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2017
But something unexpected happens: Mendel falls madly in love with Trina, further entangling this skein of classic New York neurotics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2016
All quarterbacks are neurotics on that score, and equipment managers would feel obliged to please.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2015
He specializes in neurotics with an entertainingly blinkered viewpoint, and he has no interest in taking off the blinkers here.
From The Verge ● Jul. 22, 2015
Dora had handled plenty of neurotics in her time.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
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.
