HYSTERIA
hysteria
(noun) excessive or uncontrollable fear
craze, delirium, frenzy, fury, hysteria
(noun) state of violent mental agitation
hysteria, hysterical neurosis
(noun) neurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks and disturbances of sensory and motor functions
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
hysteria (usually uncountable, plural hysterias or hysteriae or hysteriæ)
Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic.
(medicine) A mental disorder characterized by emotional excitability etc. without an organic cause.
(informal, pathology) synonym of conversion disorder
(obsolete, pathology, until early 20th century) Any disorder of women with some psychiatric symptoms without other diagnosis, ascribed to uterine influences on the female body, lack of pregnancy, or lack of sex.
Synonyms
• (mental disorder): female hysteria
• (obsolete female disorder): uterine melancholy
Anagrams
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Source: Wiktionary
Hys*te"ri*a, n. Etym: [NL.: cf. F. hystérie. See Hysteric.] (Med.)
Definition: A nervous affection, occurring almost exclusively in women, in
which the emotional and reflex excitability is exaggerated, and the
will power correspondingly diminished, so that the patient loses
control over the emotions, becomes the victim of imaginary
sensations, and often falls into paroxism or fits.
Note: The chief symptoms are convulsive, tossing movements of the
limbs and head, uncontrollable crying and laughing, and a choking
sensation as if a ball were lodged in the throat. The affection
presents the most varied symptoms, often simulating those of the
gravest diseases, but generally curable by mental treatment alone.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition