α. see hysteric n. and adj.
β. 1800s high-sterriks, 1800s–1900s high-stericks, 1800s–1900s high-sterics, 1800s–1900s high-sterricks.
hystericsn.
/hᵻˈstɛrɪks/, U.S. /həˈstɛrɪks/ 1. A bout or display of overwhelming, uncontrollable emotion or agitation, esp. as a result of acute distress.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > unhealthy excitement > [noun] > hysterics
hysterics1664
stericks1765
hystericals1797
high strikes1809
meemies1927
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > unhealthy excitement > [noun] > hysterics > fit of
hysteric1652
hysterics1664
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > convulsive or paralytic disorders > [noun] > hysteria > fit of
suffocation (also rising, fit) of the mother1615
mother-fit1657
hysterics1664
hystericals1797
conniption1833
1664 W. Drage Physical Nosonomy 75 In Epilepsies some turn round as in a Vertigo, and then fall, and then have heavings of their Brest, as in Hystericks, and then have Convulsions, and then have foamings of the mouth, as in Madness or Drunkenness.
1727 J. Swift Let. to very Young Lady in Misc. II. 323 Those Wives, who when their Husbands are gone a Journey, must have a Letter every Post, upon pain of Fits and Hystericks.
1819 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto I clxii. 84 Sobs, And indications of hysterics.
1848 Democratic Banner (Clearfield, Pa.) 24 June He rit letters to her that was enough to throw any other gall but Betty Darling into a fit of high stericks to read 'em.
1940 Times of India 12 Aug. 8/5 This sent the crowd into hysterics and the cheers were prolonged and deafening.
2015 Church Times 16 Oct. 32/3 It is Saul's rolling-eyed madness, his envy, and hysterics..that Charles Jennens..places at the heart of the drama.
2. Uncontrollable laughter; a bout of uncontrollable laughter.
ΚΠ
a1904 I. E. Avery Idle Comments (1905) xii. 205 He was laughing so he could hardly speak. Eventually he said between hysterics: ‘Funniest thing I ever heard happened down yonder to-night.’
1936 China Press (Shanghai) 24 Dec. 8/1 It is hilarious. In parts it becomes hardly possible for the audience to restrain from hysterics.
2017 Sunday Independent (Nexis) 18 June 38 I remember bursting into hysterics as the waiter rather dramatically lifted the cloche cover on my friend's dinner to reveal the tiniest morsel of a dinner.
Phrases
in hysterics.
a. Overwhelmed by extreme emotion or agitation, esp. as a result of acute distress.
ΚΠ
1746 T. Short Medicina Britannica 13 The Smell of the former is good for Women in Hysterics.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xiii. 99 The woman..was taken out of the coach in violent hysterics.
1876 G. Meredith Beauchamp's Career I. v. 75 Disorderly lacqueys, peccant maids, and cooks in hysterics.
2011 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 21 July 2 She was just a mess, in hysterics and screaming.
b. Laughing uncontrollably.
ΚΠ
1911 E. B. Morris Junior i. 10 in College Comedies Every time he bowed he split his tights in a different place, until the audience was simply in hysterics.
1938 China Press (Shanghai) 27 June 3/1 When anyone visited the set he almost always found the company in hysterics over some remark by Miss Lombard or some prank engineered by Director Mervyn Le-Roy.
2018 Sun (Nexis) 3 Aug. Khloe really struggled to pull off the accent, leaving everyone in hysterics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1664