delirium

noun

de·​lir·​i·​um di-ˈlir-ē-əm How to pronounce delirium (audio)
1
: an acute (see acute sense 1a(2)) mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations
2
: frenzied excitement
he would stride about his room in a delirium of joyThomas Wolfe
a crowd in a state of delirium

Examples of delirium in a Sentence

In her delirium, nothing she said made any sense. shoppers running around in a delirium the day before Christmas
Recent Examples on the Web For example, the researchers stated, doctors may make different assessments of the level of delirium or agitation of a non-English-speaking patient compared to an English-speaking patient. Emi Tuyetnhi Tran, NBC News, 23 Feb. 2024 Related article Emergency medical association rejects ‘excited delirium,’ used to describe some deaths in police custody In 2019, Colorado paramedics administered ketamine to 23-year-old Elijah McClain, who was Black, after he was diagnosed with excited delirium. Kaitlyn Schwanemann, CNN, 15 Feb. 2024 His family visited, and friends stayed for a week or more at a time to help with his care before and after the CAR-T treatment, since the neurological side effects can be severe, from seizures and tremors to persistent delirium. Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023 For centuries, medicine viewed shaking as a symptom of hysteria; spasms and fits as evidence of delirium. Rachel Sherman Lanna Apisukh, New York Times, 13 Nov. 2023 Yet here was Byron, expiring not in glory but in delirium, with an unavailing gaggle of doctors and servants, amid a Babel of English, Italian, and Greek, and, outside, the shout of a thunderstorm. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 And thus a juncture to reflect on your own deliriums. Daniel Scheffler, SPIN, 26 Feb. 2024 There’s just too much of the supernatural here to fully be explained away by Navarro’s schizophrenia or delirium from mine poisoning. Paul Tassi, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024 The disease typically started with a fever, followed by swellings in the groin and armpit, then a coma or delirium, then death. Tom Metcalfe, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'delirium.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from delirare to be crazy, literally, to leave the furrow (in plowing), from de- + lira furrow — more at learn

First Known Use

circa 1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of delirium was circa 1563

Dictionary Entries Near delirium

Cite this Entry

“Delirium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delirium. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

delirium

noun
de·​lir·​i·​um di-ˈlir-ē-əm How to pronounce delirium (audio)
1
: a mental disturbance marked by confusion, disturbed speech, and hallucinations
2
: wild excitement

Medical Definition

delirium

noun
de·​lir·​i·​um di-ˈlir-ē-əm How to pronounce delirium (audio)
: an acute (see acute sense 2b(1)) mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations

More from Merriam-Webster on delirium

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