Adjacent Words

hypochondria definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: chronic and abnormal anxiety about imaginary symptoms and ailments [syn: hypochondria, hypochondriasis]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: New Latin, from Late Latin, plural, upper abdomen (formerly regarded as the seat of hypochondria), from Greek, literally, the parts under the cartilage (of the breastbone), from hypo- + chondros cartilage Date: 1668 extreme depression of mind or spirits often centered on imaginary physical ailments; specifically hypochondriasis

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 abnormal anxiety about one's health. 2 morbid depression without real cause. Etymology: LL f. Gk hupokhondria soft parts of the body below the ribs, where melancholy was thought to arise (as HYPO-, khondros sternal cartilage)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hypochondria Hy`po*chon"dri*a, n. [NL.] (Med.) Hypochondriasis; melancholy; the blues.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hypochondrium Hy`po*chon"dri*um, n.; pl. L. Hypochondria, E. Hypochondriums. [L., fr. Gr. ?, from ? under the cartilage of the breastbone; ? under + ? cartilage.] (Anat.) Either of the hypochondriac regions.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If someone suffers from hypochondria, they continually worry about their health and imagine that they are ill, although there is really nothing wrong with them.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. (Med.) Melancholy, spleen, vapors, depression, dejection, hypochondriasis, low spirits.

Moby Thesaurus

abstraction, abulia, accident neurosis, alienation, anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxiety state, apathy, association neurosis, battle fatigue, blast neurosis, cachexia, cachexy, catatonic stupor, chronic ill health, combat fatigue, compensation neurosis, compulsion, compulsion neurosis, conversion hysteria, conversion neurosis, debilitation, debility, decrepitude, dejection, delicacy, delicate health, depression, detachment, elation, emotionalism, enervation, euphoria, exhaustion, expectation neurosis, feebleness, fixation neurosis, folie du doute, fragility, frailty, fright neurosis, healthlessness, homosexual neurosis, hypochondriasis, hysteria, hysterics, ill health, indifference, infirmity, insensibility, invalidism, invalidity, languishing, languishment, lethargy, mania, melancholia, mental distress, morbidity, morbidness, neurosis, neuroticism, obsession, obsessional neurosis, occupational neurosis, pathological indecisiveness, pathoneurosis, peakedness, phobia, poor health, preoccupation, psychalgia, psychasthenia, psychomotor disturbance, psychoneurosis, psychoneurotic disorder, psychopathia martialis, regression neurosis, shell shock, sickliness, situational neurosis, stupor, tic, twitching, unhealthiness, unresponsiveness, unsoundness, unwholesomeness, valetudinarianism, war neurosis, wasting, weakliness, withdrawal