Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
hypochondria .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Med.) A mental disorder in which melancholy and gloomy views torment the affected person, particularly concerning his own health; a morbid and deluded belief that one is afflicted with disease.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun medicine A mental disorder characterized by excessive fear of or preoccupation with a serious illness, despite medical testing and reassurance to the contrary.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun chronic and abnormal anxiety about imaginary symptoms and ailments
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word hypochondriasis.
Examples
-
Fortunate that it was so, otherwise a lunatic asylum, or a permanent state of what the doctors call hypochondriasis, might have followed.
-
While Harris Interactive refers to those who surf the web for medical or health-related information as "cyberchondriacs", this is not exactly correct as the portmanteau derives from hypochondriasis, which is a morbid obsession with imaginary physical ailments whereas the adults surveyed in the poll merely admitted to looking online for health information.
-
So she doesn't actually meet the official psychiatric definition of "hypochondriasis," in which a misinterpretation of symptoms leads to a preoccupation with having a serious illness that interferes with daily functions and lasts at least six months despite reassurances from a doctor.
Dr. Jon LaPook: What Would Susie Say? Susie Essman's Enlarged Prostate 2009
-
Too much sex could cause not only vertigo and epilepsy but also “seminal weakness, impotence . . . pulmonary consumption, hypochondriasis, loss of memory . . . and death.”
A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010
-
Note also the profound hypochondriasis and fear that they are being infected by a "cancer"--again, a plot presumably put together by the Jews.
Archive 2009-02-01 Dr. Sanity 2009
-
True hypochondriasis can be a devastating illness but fortunately affects only about three percent of the population.
Dr. Jon LaPook: What Would Susie Say? Susie Essman's Enlarged Prostate 2009
-
The least mature—or psychotic defenses include: denial, distortion, and delusional projection paranoia; the immature defenses are: fantasy, projection, hypochondriasis, passive-aggression and acting out.
SYMPTOM VS ADAPTATION, OR, WHO'S REALLY PROJECTING ? Dr. Sanity 2009
-
The least mature—or psychotic defenses include: denial, distortion, and delusional projection paranoia; the immature defenses are: fantasy, projection, hypochondriasis, passive-aggression and acting out.
Archive 2009-05-01 Dr. Sanity 2009
-
He had a little spike in the hypochondriasis scale—but then, who didn't?
The Girls He Adored Jonathan Nasaw 2001
-
He had a little spike in the hypochondriasis scale—but then, who didn't?
The Girls He Adored Jonathan Nasaw 2001
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.