neu·rot·ic
nu̇-ˈrä-tik 
nyu̇-
: of, relating to, constituting, or affected with neurosis (see neurosis)
1
: one affected with a neurosis (see neurosis)
2
: an emotionally unstable individual
Examples of neurotic in a Sentence
Adjective
This most fastidious of pianists sounds anything but neurotic when he plays Mozart.
—
Richard Coles, Times Literary Supplement, 15 Nov. 2002
Maybe it's because novelists don't talk much about each other. Maybe this is because novelists secrete a certain BO which only other novelists detect, like certain buzzards who emit a repellent pheromone detectable only by other buzzards, which is to say that only a novelist can know how neurotic, devious, underhanded a novelist can be.
—Walker Percy, "An Interview With Zoltán Abádi-Nagy," 1987,
in Signposts in a Strange Land, 1991
In our own time, the most perfect examples of such biography … are the matchless case-histories of Freud. Freud here shows, with absolute clarity, that the on-going nature of neurotic illness and its treatment cannot be displayed except by biography.
—Oliver Sacks, Awakenings, (1973) 1990
The psychiatrist diagnosed the patient as neurotic.
My neurotic mother scolded me for staying out 10 minutes past curfew.
He is neurotic about his job.
Noun
More than any rebirth, one senses in the England of 1911 a civilization's unconscious death wish, vividly present in the author's glimpses of the poet Rupert Brooke, that squeaky-clean neurotic, a casualty waiting to happen.
—Thomas Mallon, New York Times Book Review, 27 May 2007
As a claustrophobe—perhaps the only kind of neurotic out of place in New York—I find nothing in the city more terrifying than a stalled subway car.
—John Tierney, New York Times Magazine, 19 Mar. 1995
You are too much something for a tubercular neurotic who can only be jealous and mean and perverse.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter, 2 Dec. 1939
He was diagnosed as a neurotic.
He is a neurotic about keeping his clothes neat.
Richard Coles, Times Literary Supplement, 15 Nov. 2002
Maybe it's because novelists don't talk much about each other. Maybe this is because novelists secrete a certain BO which only other novelists detect, like certain buzzards who emit a repellent pheromone detectable only by other buzzards, which is to say that only a novelist can know how neurotic, devious, underhanded a novelist can be.
—Walker Percy, "An Interview With Zoltán Abádi-Nagy," 1987,
in Signposts in a Strange Land, 1991
In our own time, the most perfect examples of such biography … are the matchless case-histories of Freud. Freud here shows, with absolute clarity, that the on-going nature of neurotic illness and its treatment cannot be displayed except by biography.
—Oliver Sacks, Awakenings, (1973) 1990
The psychiatrist diagnosed the patient as neurotic.
My neurotic mother scolded me for staying out 10 minutes past curfew.
He is neurotic about his job.
Noun
More than any rebirth, one senses in the England of 1911 a civilization's unconscious death wish, vividly present in the author's glimpses of the poet Rupert Brooke, that squeaky-clean neurotic, a casualty waiting to happen.
—Thomas Mallon, New York Times Book Review, 27 May 2007
As a claustrophobe—perhaps the only kind of neurotic out of place in New York—I find nothing in the city more terrifying than a stalled subway car.
—John Tierney, New York Times Magazine, 19 Mar. 1995
You are too much something for a tubercular neurotic who can only be jealous and mean and perverse.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter, 2 Dec. 1939
He was diagnosed as a neurotic.
He is a neurotic about keeping his clothes neat.
Recent Examples on the Web
Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2025
The sardonic, neurotic, introspective style of humor reflecting the ambivalence of postwar Jewish-American aspirations for assimilation, was reflected in the works of comedians from Woody Allen to Jerry Seinfeld.
—Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Eric Rosenbaum, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2025
David feels like a kinder, gentler version of the neurotic, sometimes anxious characters he’s played in everything from The Social Network to the Zombieland movies.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for neurotic
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Adjective
Some people actually became less neurotic—that is, less depressed and anxious—after, say, a cancer diagnosis.
—Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2025
The sardonic, neurotic, introspective style of humor reflecting the ambivalence of postwar Jewish-American aspirations for assimilation, was reflected in the works of comedians from Woody Allen to Jerry Seinfeld.
—Rob Salkowitz, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
Noun
With everything going on in gen AI, from the frontier models to the new frontiers in science and education, Ibrahim is part evangelist and part professional neurotic.
—Eric Rosenbaum, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2025
David feels like a kinder, gentler version of the neurotic, sometimes anxious characters he’s played in everything from The Social Network to the Zombieland movies.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for neurotic
Articles Related to neurotic
Cite this Entry
“Neurotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neurotic. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
neurotic
1 of 2 adjective
neu·rot·ic
n(y)u̇-ˈrät-ik
: of, relating to, being, or affected with neurosis
neurotic
2 of 2 noun1
: a person affected with a neurosis
2
: an emotionally unstable person
Medical Definition
neurotic
1 of 2 adjective
neu·rot·ic
n(y)u̇-ˈrät-ik
1
2
: affected with, relating to, or characterized by neurosis
a neurotic person
neurotic
2 of 2 noun1
: one affected with a neurosis
2
: an emotionally unstable individual
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