hypervigilant

American  

[hahy-per-vij-uh-luhnt] / ˌhaɪ pərˈvɪdʒ ə lənt /

adjective

1. especially wary or alert.

   All high school and college coaches need to be hypervigilant about suspected brain injuries.

2. overly sensitive and reactive to stimuli.

   PTSD sufferers may experience nightmares and heightened anxiety, and they may be hypervigilant and develop an increased startle response.

---

Other Word Forms

• hypervigilantly adverb
• hypervigilantness noun

Etymology

Origin of hypervigilant

hyper- ( def. ) + vigilant ( def. )

Example Sentences

If you've never gotten a panicked text from your child whose school is on lockdown; if you've never picked up a child, jittery and hypervigilant, after a traumatic incident of gun violence, it may only be a matter of time.

From Salon

"When news is heavy and world events are scary, one of our first instincts is to become hypervigilant and watch everything as closely as we can, reading and watching as much as we can," said California-based therapist Nick Bognar.

From Salon

Only the hypervigilant refused to behave as if the pandemic hadn’t ended.

From Washington Post

It helped that the gay community in particular, scarred by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, was hypervigilant and proactive when it came to public health measures like testing, they said.

From Washington Post

“We have been conditioned over the last 15 months to be afraid, to hide out, to be distant, to be very cautious to not let anyone into your personal space, and to be very hypervigilant and on edge for all those sorts of things that could potentially expose us to risk” he said.

From Los Angeles Times