Definition of: hysteria

(his·tir′ē·ə, -ter′-) noun
1. Psychiatry A psychoneurotic condition characterized by violent emotional paroxysms, anxiety, and morbid effects, as of the sensory and motor functions.
2. Abnormal excitement; morbid emotionalism, as in wild outbursts of alternate laughing and crying. Also hys·ter·ics (his·ter′iks). [<NL <Gk. hystera the womb; because the condition was thought to affect women more than men]
—hys·ter·i·cal (his·ter′i·kəl), hys·ter′ic adjective
—hys·ter′i·cal·ly adverb