apoplexy

noun

ap·​o·​plexy ˈa-pə-ˌplek-sē 

1

medical

a

dated : stroke sense 5

The medical evidence showed conclusively that death was due to apoplexy.

—Arthur Conan Doyle

b

: gross hemorrhage into a cavity or into the substance of an organ

pituitary apoplexy

2

: a state of intense and almost uncontrollable anger

… he had irritated his superior into apoplexy …

—Kevin Patterson

… this latest attraction has sparked apoplexy among some environmentalists.

—Jayne Clark

Examples of apoplexy in a Sentence

Her speech caused apoplexy among the audience members.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Whatever The amount of transgender apoplexy coming from the far-right is astounding — and troubling. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2024

But her appearance on the field with Mr. Kelce in Baltimore after the Chiefs beat the Ravens on Sunday, complete with a kiss and a hug, appears to have sent conservatives into a fit of apoplexy that may only grow in the run-up to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas Feb. 11. —Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2024

The administration’s apoplexy has brought us to the point of crisis. —Noah Rothman, National Review, 18 Dec. 2023

There is a trick for liberals in reading the Journal’s Opinion section without having to summon the paramedics because of apoplexy. —Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 4 Sep. 2023

Never felt a single symptom, unless apoplexy is one of them. —James Lileks, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022

Currently, the top cause of death globally is ischemic heart disease and the second is cerebral apoplexy (stroke). —Billboard Japan, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2021

Giants fans in a state of apoplexy should know two things, one comforting, one not so much. —Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, 11 Dec. 2019

The mass cultural apoplexy in 2013 around the introduction of the cronut by Dominique Answel, a baker from New York, meanwhile, pretty much speaks for itself. —Tim Martin, 1843, 13 June 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English apoplexie, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, from Late Latin apoplexia, from Greek apoplēxia, from apoplēssein to disable by a stroke, from apo- + plēssein to strike — more at plaint

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

apoplexy

noun

ap·​o·​plexy ˈap-ə-ˌplek-sē 

plural apoplexies

: stroke entry 2 sense 5

Medical Definition

apoplexy

noun

ap·​o·​plexy ˈap-ə-ˌplek-sē 

plural apoplexies

1

dated : stroke

In apoplexy or "stroke" … an artery in the brain either ruptures and bleeds or is blocked.

—Morris Fishbein, The Modern Family Health Guide

2

: copious hemorrhage into a cavity or into the substance of an organ

abdominal apoplexy

adrenal apoplexy