hysterics
Fit of wailing
Hysterics is a state of uncontrolled emotional excess—laughing, crying, or panicking beyond normal bounds.
Someone in hysterics has lost composure entirely: The kids were in hysterics at the clown's antics.
The word can describe genuine emotional breakdown or exaggerated, theatrical distress: Don't have hysterics over a minor setback.
Laughing in short bursts
- cacklingHarsh, staccato laughter
- guffawingLaughing boisterously
- snortingNoisy nasal exhalation
- howlingProlonged mournful crying sound
roaring · side-splitting · uncontrollable · tears · wheezing · stitches · fits · contagious
Convulsive crying aloud
- weepingShedding tears audibly
- cryingEmotional tear release
- wailingProlonged mournful crying
- meltdownCatastrophic loss of control
breakdown · screaming · shrieking · fit · tantrum · convulsions · outburst · uncontrollable
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- theatricsExaggerated dramatic behavior
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
- exaggerationOverstating beyond reality
overreaction · scene · spectacle · attention-seeking · performative · theatrical · overwrought · hyperbole
Urgent warning signal
- frenzyViolent mental agitation
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
- screamingLoud, shrill vocalizing
- stampedeFrenzied mass flight
pandemonium · mayhem · chaos · fear · shrieking · running · fleeing · contagion
Founder of psychoanalysis
- conversionAct of changing states
- paralysisLoss of muscle function
- VictorianOf a prim era
- diagnosisIdentification of illness
asylum · neurosis · psychosomatic · fainting · vapors · corset · swooning · affliction
giggling
Laughing in short bursts
howling · roaring · side-splitting · uncontrollable · tears · wheezing · stitches · fits · contagious · snickering
sobbing
Convulsive crying aloud
meltdown · breakdown · screaming · shrieking · fit · tantrum · convulsions · outburst · uncontrollable · tears
melodrama
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- theatricsExaggerated dramatic behavior
- dramaTheatrical art or turmoil
- histrionicsExaggerated emotional behavior
exaggeration · overreaction · scene · spectacle · attention-seeking · performative · theatrical · overwrought · hyperbole · dramatics
alarm
Urgent warning signal
stampede · pandemonium · mayhem · chaos · fear · shrieking · running · fleeing · contagion · crowd
Freud
Founder of psychoanalysis
- conversionAct of changing states
- paralysisLoss of muscle function
- VictorianOf a prim era
diagnosis · asylum · neurosis · psychosomatic · fainting · vapors · corset · swooning · affliction · seizure
- emotional outburstsmeltdown, outburst, tantrum, temper tantrum, angry outburst
- laughterlaugh, giggling, chuckling, laughing, snickering
- melodramatichistrionic, theatrical, overwrought, exaggerated, dramatic
- tantrumstantrums, tantrum, temper tantrums, meltdowns, outbursts
- laugh reactionslaughter, giggles, chuckles, guffaws, cackles
- outburstsoutburst, burst, eruption, tantrum, meltdown
hystericscalmness
Peaceful mental state
serenity · composure · tranquility · equanimity · sereneness
hystericsself-control
Ability to restrain impulses
composure · self-possession · poise · collectedness · restraint
hystericsunderreaction
Insufficiently strong response
indifference · apathy · nonchalance · detachment · dispassion
- mass hysteriaShared irrational public fear
- female hysteriaDefunct psychiatric category for women
- wartime hysteriaMass anxiety during armed conflict
- war hysteriaFrenzied public demand for combat
- hysterical blindnessPsychological loss of sight