First Known Use: circa 1784
Dictionary
neurosis
noun neu·ro·sis \nu̇-ˈrō-səs, nyu̇-\
medical : an emotional illness in which a person experiences strong feelings of fear or worry
plural neu·ro·ses \-ˌsēz\
Full Definition of NEUROSIS
: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)
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Examples of NEUROSIS
- LBJ by legend watched the evening news about Vietnam simultaneously on three TVs, a ticket to a neurosis and night sweats. —Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 2 Dec. 2005
- He's self-conscious about few things, period, and so utterly lacking in neurosis that it's unnerving, frankly. —Ned Zeman, Vanity Fair, February 2001
- None of this official intervention did much to calm the fretfulness about maidservants, for the anxiety about their being both unreliable yet indispensable marked the birth of an authentically bourgeois neurosis. —Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, 1988
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Origin of NEUROSIS
New Latin
Other Psychology Terms
Medical Dictionary
neurosis
noun neu·ro·sis \n(y)u̇-ˈrō-səs\
plural neu·ro·ses \-ˌsēz\
Medical Definition of NEUROSIS
: a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias)
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