hysteria

noun hys·te·ria \his-ˈter-ē-ə, -ˈtir-\

: a state in which your emotions (such as fear) are so strong that you behave in an uncontrolled way

: a situation in which many people behave or react in an extreme or uncontrolled way because of fear, anger, etc.

Full Definition of HYSTERIA

: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions

: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess <political hysteria>

— hys·ter·ic \-ˈter-ik\ noun

— hys·ter·i·cal \-ˈter-i-kəl\ also hysteric adjective

— hys·ter·i·cal·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See hysteria defined for English-language learners

See hysteria defined for kids

Origin of HYSTERIA

New Latin, from English hysteric, adjective, from Latin hystericus, from Greek hysterikos, from hystera womb; from the Greek notion that hysteria was peculiar to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus

First Known Use: 1801

Related to HYSTERIA

Synonyms: agitation, deliriousness, delirium, distraction, fever, feverishness, flap, furor, furore, fury, frenzy, rage, rampage, uproar

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

Rhymes with HYSTERIA

Bavaria, Bulgaria, Kaffraria, malaria, planaria, Samaria

HYSTERIC Defined for Kids

hysteria

noun hys·te·ria \hi-ˈster-ē-ə\

Definition of HYSTERIA for Kids

: a state in which emotions (as fear or joy) are so strong that a person acts in an uncontrolled way

Medical Dictionary

hysteria

noun hys·te·ria \his-ˈter-ē-ə, -ˈtir-\

Medical Definition of HYSTERIA

a : a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions without an organic basis b : a similar condition in domestic animals

: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess