Hypochondriasis
//ˌhaɪːpɔ.kanˈdɹaɪːəsɪs// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A mental disorder (in some classifications of such disorders, including ICD-11) that is characterized by excessive fear of or preoccupation with a serious illness, despite medical testing and reassurance to the contrary. countable, uncountable
"Near-synonym: hypochondria"
- 2 chronic and abnormal anxiety about imaginary symptoms and ailments wordnet
Example
More examples"Most individuals who previously would have been diagnosed with hypochondriasis in DSM-IV [1994] (preoccupation with having a serious disease based on the individual’s misinterpretation of bodily symptoms) are now classified as having somatic symptom disorder; however, in one-third of cases, the diagnosis of illness anxiety disorder applies instead."
Etymology
From New Latin; by surface analysis, hypochondr(ium) + -iasis. See also hypochondria, hypochondrium, and Wikipedia at hypochondriasis § Etymology.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.