different between histrionic vs hysterical

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin histri?nicus (“pertaining to acting; scurrilous, shameful; wretched”), from Latin histri?nicus (“pertaining to acting and the theatre”), from histri? (“actor, player”) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Morphologically, the word may be surface analysed as histrion +? -ic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h?st?i???n?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /h?st?i??n?k/
• Rhymes: -?n?k
• Hyphenation: his?tri?on?ic

Adjective

histrionic (comparative more histrionic, superlative most histrionic)

1. Of or relating to actors or acting.

   Synonyms: actorish, actressy, dramatic, theatrical
2. (by extension) Excessively dramatic or emotional, especially with the intention to draw attention.

   Synonyms: melodramatic, overdramatic, sensationalized, stagy

Alternative forms

• histrionick (obsolete)

Derived terms

Related terms

• histrion (obsolete)
• histrionism
• histrionize (rare)

Translations

References

Further reading

• histrionic (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Romanian

Etymology

From French histrionique.

Adjective

histrionic m or n (feminine singular histrionic?, masculine plural histrionici, feminine and neuter plural histrionice)

1. histrionic

Declension

English

Etymology

From hysteric +? -al, from Latin hystericus, from Ancient Greek ????????? (husterikós, “suffering in the womb, hysterical”), from ??????? (hustér?, “womb”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h??st???k?l/

Adjective

hysterical (comparative more hysterical, superlative most hysterical)

1. Of, or arising from hysteria.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 16:

     An event of this nature, a marriage, or a refusal, or a proposal, thrills through a whole household of women, and sets all their hysterical sympathies at work.

2. Having, or prone to having hysterics.
3. Provoking uncontrollable laughter.

Usage notes

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

Related terms

• hysteric
• hysterics
• hysteria

Translations

Further reading

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