hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
hi-ˈster-i-kəl 
1
or less commonly hysteric
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
hysterical conditions
2
: feeling or showing extreme and unrestrained emotion
hysterical fans
… the paper did not hesitate to appeal to racial passions in hysterical headlines and rabid editorials.—
The New Yorker
The New Yorker3
informal
: very funny
a hysterical movie/joke
Synonyms
Examples of hysterical in a Sentence
some of the things little kids come out with are hysterical
the police officer assured the mother that there was no need to get hysterical, for most missing children are found safe and sound
upon hearing the announcement that a shark had been sighted, hysterical beachgoers raced out of the water
Recent Examples on the Web
The owner asked in his thick accent, giving his friend a clap on the back, laughing at his own hysterical prank.
—Samantha Dimauro, Travel + Leisure, 10 May 2024
O’Malley has honed an abrasive, hysterical on-screen persona through his online videos.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 4 May 2024
Drowned out by hysterical concerns about campus safety and anti-Semitism—terms that the mainstream media is largely (and irresponsibly) allowing the opposition to the movement to define—are the protesters’ voices and specific demands.
—Longreads, 3 May 2024
The Stones drew 'a screaming mass of 7,500 hysterical teen-agers'
The Stones arrived for their performance in an armored car at a local bank supplied for the occasion.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 3 May 2024
Women’s pain is all too frequently ignored or simply minimized as women being hysterical or overly dramatic.
—Dr. Sharon Malone, TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
The hysterical and conspiratorial reaction to Middleton’s absence from public life — on medical grounds, mind you — is telling.
—Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024
McGregor’s cheeky performance (his first scene is hysterical) leads to a cacophony of bloody, outrageous fights with Brandt.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
And then there’s all the original music — both hysterical and farcical (as created by the writers and music director Jeff Richmond) and sometimes profound (when written by Bareilles).
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024
Samantha Dimauro, Travel + Leisure, 10 May 2024
O’Malley has honed an abrasive, hysterical on-screen persona through his online videos.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 4 May 2024
Drowned out by hysterical concerns about campus safety and anti-Semitism—terms that the mainstream media is largely (and irresponsibly) allowing the opposition to the movement to define—are the protesters’ voices and specific demands.
—Longreads, 3 May 2024
The Stones drew 'a screaming mass of 7,500 hysterical teen-agers'
The Stones arrived for their performance in an armored car at a local bank supplied for the occasion.
—Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 3 May 2024
Women’s pain is all too frequently ignored or simply minimized as women being hysterical or overly dramatic.
—Dr. Sharon Malone, TIME, 9 Apr. 2024
The hysterical and conspiratorial reaction to Middleton’s absence from public life — on medical grounds, mind you — is telling.
—Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024
McGregor’s cheeky performance (his first scene is hysterical) leads to a cacophony of bloody, outrageous fights with Brandt.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
And then there’s all the original music — both hysterical and farcical (as created by the writers and music director Jeff Richmond) and sometimes profound (when written by Bareilles).
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hysterical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hysterical
Cite this Entry
“Hysterical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysterical. Accessed 17 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
his-ˈter-i-kəl
1
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
2
: feeling or showing unrestrained emotion
hysterical fans
3
informal
: very funny
Medical Definition
hysterical
adjective
hys·ter·i·cal
-ˈter-i-kəl
variants
also hysteric
: of, relating to, or marked by hysteria
during hysterical conditions various functions of the human body are disordered—Morris Fishbein
Morris FishbeinLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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