1
as in bursts
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling
a paroxysm of laughter greeted the pratfall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in upheavals
a violent disturbance (as of the political or social order)
Darwin's introduction of the theory of evolution created paroxysms in both religion and science that are still being felt today
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of paroxysms
Preparing a tax return can trigger paroxysms of stress at the best of times.
—
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2026
Also, stars in this frenzied state aren’t terribly stable; the fusion rate can be tempestuous, and the star undergoes incredibly violent paroxysms.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
The post is now nearing a hundred million views and inspiring paroxysms of millennial self-reckoning.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 30 Mar. 2026
Also, stars in this frenzied state aren’t terribly stable; the fusion rate can be tempestuous, and the star undergoes incredibly violent paroxysms.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
The post is now nearing a hundred million views and inspiring paroxysms of millennial self-reckoning.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paroxysms
Noun
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Videos recorded by passengers show sparks and bursts of flame coming from the engine, lighting up the night sky as the aircraft gained altitude.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The Poison frontman, evoking the regional dialect of his native Pittsburgh, bursts with adrenaline on a typical day.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Right now, marketers are still trying to get a read on how economic conditions may shake out, and there won’t be much clarity in the ad market until budgets are registered—a process that itself will be complicated by the ongoing geopolitical upheavals.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
3 Apr. 2026
-
During the major social upheavals of 2011 and 2019, students adopted a confrontational stance against the political and business elite to demand systemic reforms.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Backlash was immediate given the rapper’s history of antisemitic outbursts.—
Zack Sharf,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2026
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Right now, the sun is finally moving out of several years of solar maximum—but as this week’s outbursts show, our star is not yet quiet.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The country, meanwhile, was experiencing a series of convulsions.—
Azadeh Moaveni,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
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Brain swelling from encephalitis can lead to convulsions, permanent hearing loss, intellectual disability and death, according to the CDC.—
Kristen Jordan Shamus,
Freep.com,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Authorities reinforced security around Jewish sites in the wake of explosions last month outside synagogues in Liege, Belgium, and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam and outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Apr. 2026
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The special effects supervisor on a movie set is responsible for designing and executing practical, in-camera effects such as explosions, pyrotechnics, rigs, and atmospheric elements.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Authoritarianism, rule by force and revolutions with bloodshed are the norms.—
Stephen Mitchell,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The Cost of Waiting What makes this moment structurally different from past technology revolutions is the combination of AI’s extreme capital intensity and its inverted labor disruption.—
Ravi Kumar S,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — huge eruptions of solar plasma — could be a threat to Artemis astronauts venturing far beyond our planet, as could cosmic rays, which originate far beyond our solar system.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
30 Mar. 2026
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And while many are extinct or dormant, two of them, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, are still capable of destructive and deadly eruptions.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
4 Apr. 2026
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The book gives us fresh and fascinating insight into a woman whose study of the waves from earthquakes led to a new understanding of what lies at the very center of our planet.—
Carol Sutton Lewis,
Scientific American,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Paroxysms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paroxysms. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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