Dictionary

hysterical en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /hɪˈstɛɹɪkəl/

Etymology

From hysteric + -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ῠ̔στέρᾱ (hŭstérā, “womb”).

Meanings

1. Of, or arising from hysteria.
   • An event of this nature, a marriage, or a refusal, or a proposal, thrills through a whole household of women, and sets all their hysterical sympathies at work. 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 16, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
   • Henrietta gasped for breath; but she swallowed down the hysterical emotion, and signed with her hand for Walter to go on. 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Letters Restored”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 221:
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. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • There is a certain irony in all of this because in their hysterical use of charge of “double standard” – that Israel is being “singled out for criticism”– it is Israel’s supporters who are themselves guilty of a “double standard”, since, if they were to have their way, it is Israel that would be singled out as the only country that cannot be criticised. 2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National:

Forms

Deriveds

hysterical realism · nonhysterical · antihysterical · overhysterical · hysterical blindness · semihysterical · hystericalness · unhysterical · hysterical historical · hysterically · posthysterical

Relateds

hysterics · hysteric · hysteria

Translations (53)

fi hysteerinen (prone to having hysterics) · mi keka (prone to having hysterics) · cmn 易發歇斯底里的 (prone to having hysterics) · fr hystérique (prone to having hysterics) · hu hisztérikus (prone to having hysterics) · fi riemastuttava (provoking laughter) · it isterico (arising from hysteria) · is sefasjúkur (prone to having hysterics) · cs hysterický (prone to having hysterics) · pt histérico (arising from hysteria) · fr tordant (provoking laughter) · de hysterisch (arising from hysteria) · fi hysteerinen (arising from hysteria) · fr surexcité (prone to having hysterics) · pl histeryczny (arising from hysteria) · is mjög fyndinn (provoking laughter) · bg истеричен (arising from hysteria) · is móðursjúkur (arising from hysteria) · de hysterisch (prone to having hysterics) · fr hystérique (provoking laughter) · eo histeria (arising from hysteria) · ga histéireach (arising from hysteria) · ca histèric (arising from hysteria) · is æstur (prone to having hysterics) · hu hisztérikus (arising from hysteria) · bg истеричен (prone to having hysterics) · it da morire dal ridere (provoking laughter) · el υστερικός (prone to having hysterics) · lv histērisks (prone to having hysterics) · is æstur (arising from hysteria) · cy hysteraidd (arising from hysteria) · sl histeričen (arising from hysteria) · cmn 令人捧腹的 (provoking laughter) · it esilarante (provoking laughter) · lv histērisks (arising from hysteria) · uk істеричний (arising from hysteria) · el υστερικός (arising from hysteria) · fr hystérique (arising from hysteria) · ru уморительный (provoking laughter) · cmn 歇斯底里的 (arising from hysteria) · cs hysterický (arising from hysteria) · hu hisztériás (arising from hysteria) · hu hisztériás (prone to having hysterics) · nl hysterisch (arising from hysteria) · ru истеричный (prone to having hysterics) · ru истери́ческий (arising from hysteria) · is sefasjúkur (arising from hysteria) · is móðursjúkur (prone to having hysterics) · is í geðshræringu (arising from hysteria) · ca histèric (prone to having hysterics) · is í uppnámi (arising from hysteria) · pt histérico (prone to having hysterics) · sv hysterisk (arising from hysteria)