Meaning & use
hysteric
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashioned
A person who is overcome by wild, uncontrolled emotion, such as panic or extreme excitement.
Grammar: Singular and countable: he is a hysteric, two hysterics. It can sound insulting or dated.
Patterns
- be a hysteric
The crowd's loudest hysteric screamed as the band walked on stage.
Don't be such a hysteric; the noise was only a falling book.
The newspaper called him a hysteric for panicking in public.
nounusually plural
A sudden fit of uncontrollable laughing or crying, or wild emotional behavior.
Grammar: Almost always plural and used with a plural verb: hysterics are, not a hysteric is.
Patterns
- go into hysterics
- be in hysterics
We were in hysterics watching the old comedy.
She went into hysterics when she saw the spider.
The whole class collapsed in hysterics at his impression.
Word forms
| plural | hysterics |
|---|
Common combinations
- in hysterics
- The audience was in hysterics by the end of the sketch.
- go into hysterics
- The toddler went into hysterics when the balloon popped.
- have hysterics
- Mom nearly had hysterics when she saw the mess.
- fit of hysterics
- A fit of hysterics overcame him at the funeral.
- scream hysterically
- The fans screamed hysterically when the singer appeared.
Synonyms and how they differ
- panicker
- Panicker describes someone who gives way to fear in particular, whereas hysteric covers laughing, crying or any extreme emotion.
- fits
- Fits is a plain plural that means sudden outbursts, and it feels less dramatic than hysterics.
- frenzy
- Frenzy focuses on wild, uncontrolled activity, while hysterics focuses on the emotional breakdown itself.
Opposites
Word family
- hysterical adjective
- overcome by wild emotion, or very funny in informal use
- hysterically adverb
- in a wild, uncontrolled way
- hysteria noun
- extreme, uncontrolled excitement or fear, often among a group
Commonly confused: hysteric or historic? hysteric or hysterectomy?
hysteric vs historic
Historic means important in history, and it is unrelated to the hys- word, though the two look similar.
hysteric vs hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is a surgical operation on the womb; it shares a Greek root with hysteric but is a medical procedure, not an emotion.
Practice
Which sentence uses hysterics naturally?
Choose one answer.
In hysterics is the common phrase for helpless laughing or crying. Hysterics is a plural-type noun, so it cannot take a singular verb here, work as a verb, or serve as an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hysteric”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.