neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis nu̇-ˈrō-səs 

nyu̇-

plural neuroses nu̇-ˈrō-ˌsēz 

nyu̇-

: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (such as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)

Examples of neurosis in a Sentence

LBJ by legend watched the evening news about Vietnam simultaneously on three TVs, a ticket to a neurosis and night sweats. —Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 2 Dec. 2005

He's self-conscious about few things, period, and so utterly lacking in neurosis that it's unnerving, frankly. —Ned Zeman, Vanity Fair, February 2001

None of this official intervention did much to calm the fretfulness about maidservants, for the anxiety about their being both unreliable yet indispensable marked the birth of an authentically bourgeois neurosis. —Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 1988

Recent Examples on the Web

In a way we are called to do similar work with types, with the objective being to stop pathologizing the ones that might heal us or rescue us from neurosis. —Harmony Holiday, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024

His Larson is all limbs, all neurosis, beaming with aggressive affection at the sight of urban beauty and crumpling into self-pitying shame when his ruthless career focus is called out. —Rory Doherty, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2024

If only his many neuroses didn’t keep getting in the way. —Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 5 Nov. 2024

Explores generational neuroses in an Indian family. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin neurōsis "any of various conditions (as coma or paralysis) involving impairment of the sensory and motor systems without local disease or fever," from Greek neûron "sinew, tendon, nerve" + New Latin -ōsis -osis — more at nerve entry 1

Note: The Latin term neurosis was introduced in the sense given in the etymology ("sensus et motus laesi, sine pyrexia et sine morbo locali") by the Scottish physician William Cullen (1710-90) in Synopsis nosologiæ methodicæ (Edinburgh, 1769), p. 274. Cullen later used the word in English: "In this place I propose to comprehend, under the title of Neuroses, all those preternatural affections of sense or motion, which are without pyrexia as part of the primary disease; and all those which do not depend upon a topical affection of the organs, but upon a more general affection of the nervous system, and of those powers on which sense and motion more especially depend." (First Lines of the Practice of Physic, for the Use of the Students in the University of Edinburgh, vol. 3 [Edinburgh, 1783], p. 2).

First Known Use

circa 1784, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing neurosis

• anxiety neurosis

Kids Definition

neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis n(y)u̇-ˈrō-səs 

plural neuroses -ˈrō-ˌsēz 

: any of various mental and emotional disorders that affect only part of a person's personality, are less serious than a psychosis, and involve unusual or extreme reactions (as abnormal fears, depression, or anxiety) to stress and conflict

Medical Definition

neurosis

noun

neu·​ro·​sis n(y)u̇-ˈrō-səs 

plural neuroses -ˌsēz 

: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)