Hysterical
adj ·Moderate ·College 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
Example
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”).
Related phrases
More for "hysterical"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.