hysteria
- 01 C2 Proficiency
an old-fashioned medical name for mental health problems that people used to think only women had.
a historical and now largely obsolete medical diagnosis for various psychological symptoms, formerly attributed to physiological causes in women.
Simple“In the 1800s, doctors often diagnosed women with hysteria if they were acting upset.”
In context“The Victorian concept of hysteria has been extensively critiqued by modern psychologists for its gender bias and lack of clinical accuracy.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is archaic and often considered sexist; modern speakers only use it when discussing history or literature.
Synonymsconversion disorder
“Putin and his officials have repeatedly dismissed warnings of Russian plans to attack Nato countries as hysteria.”
“Even in Miami, where Messi was embraced readily, Messi’s presence no longer guarantees the hysteria it once did.”
From New Latin hysteria, a back-formation from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the uterus, hysterical”), from ὑστέρα (hustéra, “womb”). Compare French hystérie.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.