hysterical neurosis
1
9.9
- noun
- /hɪˈstɛrɪkəl njuˈroʊsɪs/
- Archaic
:
neurosis histérica
- We could be looking at hysterical neurosis.
Examples
-
After witnessing the accident, she exhibited signs of hysterical neurosis, including uncontrollable crying and tremors.
-
The patient was diagnosed with hysterical neurosis following his emotional breakdown during therapy.
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In moments of extreme stress, he experienced hysterical neurosis, leading to temporary paralysis of his limbs.
Synonyms
14
5.9
A sudden time when someone cannot stop crying or laughing
11
8.3
A condition of feeling very worried or nervous without losing touch with reality
5
8.0
An old medical label for strong emotional outbursts and unexplained body symptoms
A condition where strong emotions cause physical symptoms without a medical cause
A mild long-lasting mental problem that causes ongoing worry or sadness
Antonyms
53
3.3
Being able to stop yourself from acting on strong feelings or wants when it is hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: a 'neurosis' characterized by 'hysterical' (excessive emotional) symptoms, so the basic meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This adjective–noun pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer it (though clinical specifics might require specialist knowledge).
Etymology
Hysterical neurosis comes from old medical ideas: doctors used hysterical for very strong emotion and neurosis for a nervous problem. They used this name when emotions seemed to cause real problems with feeling or moving, so the phrase came to mean 'sudden emotional outbursts and problems with feeling or movement'.