hysteria
Plural: hysteriae, hysterias, hysteriæ
Noun
- Uncontrollable emotional excitement, often with physical symptoms.
- state of violent mental agitation
- excessive or uncontrollable fear
- neurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks and disturbances of sensory and motor functions
- Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotions, in a wide range from joy to panic but usually including anxiety or fear.
- A mental disorder characterized by emotional excitability etc. without an organic cause.
- Synonym of conversion disorder.
- Any disorder of women with some psychiatric symptoms without other diagnosis, ascribed to uterine influences on the female body, lack of pregnancy, or lack of sex.
Examples
- Winning with a bingo caused a brief moment of HYSTERIA, quickly followed by quiet satisfaction.
Origin / Etymology
From New Latin hysteria, a back-formation from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the uterus, hysterical”), from ὑστέρα (hustéra, “womb”). Compare French hystérie.
Synonyms
craze, delirium, frenzy, fury, hysterical neurosis, conversion disorder, uterine melancholy
Scrabble Score: 14
hysteria: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordhysteria: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hysteria: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary