ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Hysterical

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /hɪˈstɛɹɪkəl/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Hysterical is an adjective meaning Of, or arising from hysteria.

Meaning

Of, or arising from hysteria.

More Meanings

  1. Having, or prone to having hysterics.
  2. Provoking uncontrollable laughter.

Example Sentences

Henrietta gasped for breath; but she swallowed down the hysterical emotion, and signed with her hand for Walter to go on.
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.
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.
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.

Synonyms for hysterical

Depending on context, synonyms include agitated, neurotic, hysteric, psychoneurotic.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include psychoneurotic, neurotic, agitated, wild, demented, crazy.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.