hysterical
/hɪˈstɛɹɪkəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.48 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
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."
Etymology
From hysteric + -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ῠ̔στέρᾱ (hŭstérā, “womb”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
more hysterical (comparative)
most hysterical (superlative)