Hysterical
adj ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Of, or arising from hysteria.
"Henrietta gasped for breath; but she swallowed down the hysterical emotion, and signed with her hand for Walter to go on."
- 2 Having, or prone to having hysterics.
- 3 Provoking uncontrollable laughter.
"She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher."
- 1 marked by excessive or uncontrollable emotion wordnet
- 2 characterized by or arising from psychoneurotic hysteria wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Right, I said, shivering at this recital as a man would who gets hysterical while taking a shower if a bit of soap stings his eye."
Etymology
From hysteric + -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ῠ̔στέρᾱ (hŭstérā, “womb”).