hysterical

English

Etymology

From hysteric +‎ -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ῠ̔στέρᾱ (hustérā, “womb”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hɪˈstɛɹɪkəl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛɹɪkəl

Adjective

hysterical (comparative more hysterical, superlative most hysterical)

Of, or arising from hysteria.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], OCLC 21345056, page 221:
  Henrietta gasped for breath; but she swallowed down the hysterical emotion, and signed with her hand for Walter to go on.
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 16, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, OCLC 3174108:
  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.
Having, or prone to having hysterics.
Provoking uncontrollable laughter.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎:
  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.
- 2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National‎:
  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.

Usage notes

For usage caution, see hysteria § Usage notes.
Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede hysterical with an, others with a.

Derived terms

hysterically
hystericalness

Related terms

hysteric
hysterics
hysteria

Translations

arising from hysteria

Bulgarian: истеричен (bg) (isteričen)
Catalan: histèric
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: hysterický
Dutch: hysterisch (nl)
Esperanto: histeria (eo)
Finnish: hysteerinen (fi)
French: hystérique (fr)
German: hysterisch (de)
Greek: υστερικός (el) (ysterikós)
Hungarian: hisztérikus (hu), hisztériás (hu)
Icelandic: sefasjúkur, móðursjúkur, æstur (is), í uppnámi, í geðshræringu
Irish: histéireach
Italian: isterico (it)
Latvian: histērisks
Polish: histeryczny (pl)
Portuguese: histérico
Russian: истери́ческий (ru) (isteríčeskij)
Slovene: histeričen
Swedish: hysterisk (sv)
Ukrainian: істеричний (isteryčnyj)
Welsh: hysteraidd

prone to having hysterics

Bulgarian: истеричен (bg) (isteričen)
Catalan: histèric
Czech: hysterický
Finnish: hysteerinen (fi)
French: hystérique (fr), surexcité (fr)
German: hysterisch (de)
Greek: υστερικός (el) (ysterikós)
Hungarian: hisztérikus (hu), hisztériás (hu)
Icelandic: sefasjúkur, móðursjúkur, æstur (is)
Latvian: histērisks
Maori: keka
Portuguese: histérico
Russian: истеричный (ru) (isteričnyj)

provoking laughter

Finnish: riemastuttava (fi)
French: hystérique (fr), tordant (fr)
Icelandic: mjög fyndinn
Italian: esilarante (it), da morire dal ridere
Russian: уморительный (ru) (umoritelʹnyj)