Link Centre Dictionary

hysterical

hys·te·ri·cal

UK/hɪˈstɛɹɪkəl/ US/hɪˈstɛrɪkʌl/ fairly common

adjective

1.

characterized by or arising from psychoneurotic hysteria

  • “during hysterical conditions various functions of the human body are disordered” Morris Fishbein
  • “hysterical amnesia”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

marked by excessive or uncontrollable emotion

  • “hysterical laughter”
  • “a mob of hysterical vigilantes”
Similar

Origin

From hysteric + -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ῠ̔στέρᾱ (hŭstérā, “womb”).

Phrases

  • hysterical blindness
  • hysterical historical
  • hysterical realism

Related words

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.