as in frenzy
a state of wildly excited activity or emotion
the hysteria of the mother when she realized that she had lost her four-year-old son in the crowd
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hysteria
Why drone hysteria has taken off What is an MQ-9 Reaper drone?
—
Tom Hanson, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2024
Also deeply familiar is the tabloid hysteria, which has since become our universal ALL-CAPS way of communicating.
—Glynnis MacNicol, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2025
Ellen is a more passive counterpart to Thomasin, the teenage heroine played by fellow big-eyed blonde Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, in that she’s also been pathologized by the strictures of her era, her psychic sensitivities interpreted by those around her as signs of hysteria or mental illness.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2025
Less than two decades later, at the height of wartime anti-Japanese hysteria in the United States, a coalition of anti-Asian groups in California filed suit arguing that Wong Kim Ark was wrongly decided and that children of Asian immigrants should be racially barred from birthright citizenship.
—Rachel E. Rosenbloom / Made By History, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for hysteria 
Tom Hanson, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2024
Also deeply familiar is the tabloid hysteria, which has since become our universal ALL-CAPS way of communicating.
—Glynnis MacNicol, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2025
Ellen is a more passive counterpart to Thomasin, the teenage heroine played by fellow big-eyed blonde Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, in that she’s also been pathologized by the strictures of her era, her psychic sensitivities interpreted by those around her as signs of hysteria or mental illness.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2025
Less than two decades later, at the height of wartime anti-Japanese hysteria in the United States, a coalition of anti-Asian groups in California filed suit arguing that Wong Kim Ark was wrongly decided and that children of Asian immigrants should be racially barred from birthright citizenship.
—Rachel E. Rosenbloom / Made By History, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for hysteria
Articles Related to hysteria
Thesaurus Entries Near hysteria
Cite this Entry
“Hysteria.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hysteria. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share