hysteric
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the uterus, hysterical”), from ὑστέρα (hustéra, “womb”).
Pronunciation
editAdjective
edithysteric (comparative more hysteric, superlative most hysteric)
- (medicine) Hysterical; relating to hysteria.
- 1781, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Critic: Or A Tragedy Rehearsed […], London: […] T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, pages 4–5:
- Yes, my dravving-room is an abſolute regiſter-office for candidate actors, and poets vvithout character;—then to be continually alarmed vvith Miſſes and Ma'ams piping hiſteric changes on Juliets and Dorindas, Pollys and Ophelias; […]
- 1969, Edmund Bergler, Selected Papers of Edmund Bergler, 1933-1961, page 697:
- We also find gamblers of this type among some frigid hysteric women, who seem to treat gambling as they treat men, coldly and spongingly.
Noun
edithysteric (plural hysterics)
- A hysterical person.
- 1956, Norman Mailer, The Man Who Studied Yoga:
- “Which girl was it now?” he asks a second time. ¶ “Oh, you know, the hysteric,” Eleanor says, “the one who was parading her bazooms in your face.”
Usage notes
edit- Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede hysteric with an, others with a.
Translations
edit- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Related terms
editFurther reading
edit- “hysteric”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “hysteric”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.