hysteria
Americannoun
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an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc.
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Psychoanalysis. a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks, disturbances of sensory and motor functions, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion.
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Psychiatry. conversion disorder.
noun
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a mental disorder characterized by emotional outbursts, susceptibility to autosuggestion, and, often, symptoms such as paralysis that mimic the effects of physical disorders See also conversion disorder
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any frenzied emotional state, esp of laughter or crying
Other Word Forms
- subhysteria noun
Etymology
Origin of hysteria
First recorded in 1795–1805; hyster(ic) + -ia
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.
And some of the biggest software-sector declines on Friday seemed largely unrelated to the AI hysteria around Block’s layoffs.
From MarketWatch
That decision prompted Jim Paterson, Lomond Banks' development director, to say opponents of the plan had run a campaign with "baseless and offensive" claims about the plan, claiming this was rooted in "hysteria and mistruth".
From BBC
But both AI boosterism and backlash about AI killing jobs are whipping up public hysteria.
The gig started as a one-time guest role but “ignited a fan hysteria so intense,” Falchuk said, that the show was rewritten to make Dane a leading man.
From Los Angeles Times
Despite the hysteria, it isn’t dead or dying but changed, in ways that make it more attuned to its audiences but less effective as a vehicle for institutional accountability.
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.
