hysteria

noun

hys·​te·​ria hi-ˈster-ē-ə How to pronounce hysteria (audio) -ˈstir- How to pronounce hysteria (audio)
1
: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychogenic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral (see visceral sense 4) functions
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess
political hysteria
The plague had caused mass hysteria in the village.

Examples of hysteria in a Sentence

A few of the children began to scream, and soon they were all caught up in the hysteria. Wartime hysteria led to many unfair accusations of treachery. The spreading of the disease caused mass hysteria in the village.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Also deeply familiar is the tabloid hysteria, which has since become our universal ALL-CAPS way of communicating. Glynnis MacNicol, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2025 Ellen is a more passive counterpart to Thomasin, the teenage heroine played by fellow big-eyed blonde Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, in that she’s also been pathologized by the strictures of her era, her psychic sensitivities interpreted by those around her as signs of hysteria or mental illness. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2025 Less than two decades later, at the height of wartime anti-Japanese hysteria in the United States, a coalition of anti-Asian groups in California filed suit arguing that Wong Kim Ark was wrongly decided and that children of Asian immigrants should be racially barred from birthright citizenship. Rachel E. Rosenbloom / Made By History, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025 Some are suggesting the curious timing of that decision is political, coming just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, weeks after the New Jersey drone hysteria, and days after a plane fighting the LA wildfires got taken down by a DJI drone. Sean Hollister, The Verge, 15 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for hysteria 

Word History

Etymology

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

1772, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hysteria was in 1772

Dictionary Entries Near hysteria

Cite this Entry

“Hysteria.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysteria. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

hysteria

noun
hys·​te·​ria his-ˈter-ē-ə How to pronounce hysteria (audio) -ˈtir- How to pronounce hysteria (audio)
1
: a nervous disorder marked by excitability of the emotions
2
: unmanageable fear or outburst of emotion

Medical Definition

hysteria

noun
hys·​te·​ria his-ˈter-ē-ə How to pronounce hysteria (audio) -ˈtir- How to pronounce hysteria (audio)
1
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
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess

More from Merriam-Webster on hysteria

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