hysteria
noun
hys·te·ria
hi-ˈster-ē-ə 
-ˈstir-
-ˈstir-
1
: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychogenic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral (see visceral sense 4) functions
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess
political hysteria
The plague had caused mass hysteria in the village.
Examples of hysteria in a Sentence
A few of the children began to scream, and soon they were all caught up in the hysteria.
Wartime hysteria led to many unfair accusations of treachery.
The spreading of the disease caused mass hysteria in the village.
Recent Examples on the Web
With online hype turning into real-life hysteria, brands may need to rethink drop culture or at least make a few tweaks.
—
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 May 2026
But when the Gaga music started playing, the crowd erupted with the kind of hysteria once reserved for Beatlemania.
—Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 15 May 2026
In retrospect, Summers’s ouster doesn’t look like the product of feminist hysteria; rather, his colleagues may have seen him as an embarrassing liability and seized on the opportunity to offload him.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Filming is being lined up for late 2027 on the project about small-town groupthink in 1930s Europe; Simenon’s 1939 novel is considered a prophetic study of race hatred and mass hysteria.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for hysteria
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.
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 May 2026
But when the Gaga music started playing, the crowd erupted with the kind of hysteria once reserved for Beatlemania.
—Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 15 May 2026
In retrospect, Summers’s ouster doesn’t look like the product of feminist hysteria; rather, his colleagues may have seen him as an embarrassing liability and seized on the opportunity to offload him.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Filming is being lined up for late 2027 on the project about small-town groupthink in 1930s Europe; Simenon’s 1939 novel is considered a prophetic study of race hatred and mass hysteria.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for hysteria
Cite this Entry
“Hysteria.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysteria. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hysteria
noun
hys·te·ria
his-ˈter-ē-ə
-ˈtir-
-ˈtir-
1
: a nervous disorder marked by excitability of the emotions
2
: unmanageable fear or outburst of emotion
Medical Definition
hysteria
noun
hys·te·ria
his-ˈter-ē-ə
-ˈtir-
-ˈtir-
1
a
: a psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions without an organic basis
b
: a similar condition in domestic animals
2
: behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
