hysteric

• hysterick (obsolete)

From Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ὑστερικός (husterikós, “suffering in the uterus, hysterical”), from ὑστέρα (hustéra, “womb”).

• IPA^(key): /hɪsˈtɛɹɪk/

hysteric (comparative more hysteric, superlative most hysteric)

1. (medicine) Hysterical; relating to hysteria.
   • 1969, Edmund Bergler, Selected Papers of Edmund Bergler, 1933-1961 (page 697)

     We also find gamblers of this type among some frigid hysteric women, who seem to treat gambling as they treat men, coldly and spongingly.

hysteric (plural hysterics)

1. A hysterical person.
   • 1956, Norman Mailer, “The Man Who Studied Yoga”:

     “Which girl was it now?” he asks a second time. ¶ “Oh, you know, the hysteric,” Eleanor says, “the one who was parading her bazooms in your face.”

• Like many terms that start with a non-silent h but have emphasis on their second syllable, some people precede hysteric with an, others with a.

• hysteric in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• hysteric at OneLook Dictionary Search