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hysteria Definition

hys·teria (hi sterē ə, -stir-)

noun

  1. a psychiatric condition variously characterized by emotional excitability, excessive anxiety, sensory and motor disturbances, or the unconscious simulation of organic disorders, such as blindness, deafness, etc.
  2. any outbreak of wild, uncontrolled excitement or feeling, such as fits of laughing and crying

Etymology: ModL < hysteric + -ia

hysteria Synonyms

hysteria

n.

delirium, frenzy, agitation, feverishness, mania, rage, hysterics, madness, insanity, craze, excitement, uproar, convulsion, fit, paroxysm, laughing jag*, crying jag*; see also confusion 2, excitement, nervousness 1.

hysteria is applied in psychiatry to certain psychogenic disorders characterized by excitability, anxiety, sensory and motor disturbances, or the involuntary simulation of blindness, deafness, etc.; mania in its basic sense of a mental disorder characterized by excitability, exaggerated feelings of well-being, excessive activity, etc. describes the phase of manic-depressive psychosis that is distinguished from depression; delirium denotes a temporary state of extreme mental disturbance (marked by restlessness, incoherence, and hallucinations) that occurs during fevers, in alcoholic psychosis, etc.; frenzy, not used technically in psychiatry, implies extreme emotional agitation in which self-control is lost; in extended use, hysteria suggests an outburst of wild, uncontrolled feeling laughed and cried in a fit of hysteria, mania, a craze for something a mania for surfing, and delirium, rapturous excitement a delirium of joy

hysteria Usage Examples

Preposition: in

press: You should not believe the hysteria in the press, the Internet is too good, to deprive your kids of access to it.

Converse of object

  • whip: Challenge the hysteria whipped up by the press and politicians for political gain.
  • generate: Mrs Brooker's husband David dismissed the hysteria generated by many tabloid newspapers over the latest incident.
  • create: The Rosicrucians managed to create a hysteria about themselves, with many people attempting to search them out to expose or join them.
  • cause: They caused mild hysteria by running through the crowds at the front of the stage.
  • give: Given the current hysteria around religion, I don't think we can rely on everyone to be particularly philosophical about this stuff.
  • increase: Unwelcome visits from the landlord only increase the nervous hysteria already developing in the small flat fueling dreadful consequences.

Preposition: against

seeker: They have stood idly by whilst right wing media whip up racist hysteria against asylum seekers.

Adjective modifier

  • anti-communist: However, there was a UFO mania in California in the period, probably associated the anti-communist hysteria of the time.
  • tabloid: The frustrating thing for Doherty's fans is that beneath all the tabloid hysteria lies a genuine talent.
  • mass: Hard Candy however, has a new lens for the mass hysteria.
  • racist: They have stood idly by whilst right wing media whip up racist hysteria against asylum seekers.
  • near: In the past few days there has been a note of near hysteria on the issue of asylum seekers.
  • religious: There's nothing like religious hysteria for drumming up the ratings.

Noun used with modifier

  • witch: James I, who believed the witch hysteria, wrote a book called ' Demonology ' about the supposed hidden world of wicked witches.
  • media: Numbers opting for the combined jab has fallen Number 10 condemned what it called the " media hysteria " .
  • mass: You've now spread unwarranted mass hysteria across the globe.
  • medium: Despite the world media hysteria around him, Sharon has not done anything great or new f or that matter.
  • conversion: Freud's diagnosis of conversion hysteria, for example, was common at the turn of the century.
  • press: Press hysteria over each HIV-positive health care worker never lessened.

Browse dictionary entries near hysteria

  1. hysteresis
  2. hysterectomy
  3. hyssop
  4. hyson
  5. Hyrcania
  6. hyrax
  7. hyracoid
  8. hypsometry
  9. hypsometer
  10. hypsography
  1. hysteric
  2. hysterical
  3. hystero-
  4. hysteroid
  5. hysteron proteron
  6. hysterotomy
  7. hystricomorphic
  8. Hz
  9. i
  10. I-beam