NEUROTIC

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does neurotic mean? 

• NEUROTIC (noun)
  The noun NEUROTIC has 1 sense:

1. a person suffering from neurosis

  Familiarity information: NEUROTIC used as a noun is very rare.

• NEUROTIC (adjective)
  The adjective NEUROTIC has 2 senses:

1. characteristic of or affected by neurosis

2. affected with emotional disorder

  Familiarity information: NEUROTIC used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NEUROTIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person suffering from neurosis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

mental case; neurotic; psychoneurotic

Hypernyms ("neurotic" is a kind of...):

diseased person; sick person; sufferer (a person suffering from an illness)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "neurotic"):

claustrophobe (a person suffering from claustrophobia)

hysteric (a person suffering from hysteria)

obsessive (a person who has obsessions)

obsessive-compulsive (a person with obsessive-compulsive characteristics)

psychopath; sociopath (someone with a sociopathic personality; a person with an antisocial personality disorder ('psychopath' was once widely used but has now been superseded by 'sociopath'))

Derivation:

neurotic (affected with emotional disorder)

• NEUROTIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic of or affected by neurosis

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

neurotic symptoms

Pertainym:

neurosis (a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction)

Derivation:

neurosis (a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Affected with emotional disorder

Synonyms:

neurotic; psychoneurotic

Similar:

schizoid (marked by withdrawal and inability to form close relationships)

psychosomatic (used of illness or symptoms resulting from neurosis)

phobic (suffering from irrational fears)

pathological (caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition)

obsessive-compulsive (characterized by obsessions and compulsions)

obsessional; obsessive (characterized by or constituting an obsession)

nymphomaniac; nymphomaniacal ((used of women) affected with excessive sexual desire)

monomaniacal (obsessed with a single subject or idea)

megalomaniacal; megalomanic (suffering from megalomania)

hysteric; hysterical (characterized by or arising from psychoneurotic hysteria)

hypochondriac; hypochondriacal (suffering from hypochondria)

disturbed; maladjusted (emotionally unstable and having difficulty coping with personal relationships)

delusional (suffering from or characterized by delusions)

compulsive (caused by or suggestive of psychological compulsion)

aboulic; abulic (suffering from abulia; showing abnormal inability to act or make decisions)

Antonym:

unneurotic (not neurotic)

Derivation:

neurosis (a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction)

neurotic (a person suffering from neurosis)

 Context examples 

A standardized rating scale developed by M. Hamilton in 1959 which is used to evaluate the severity of an individual's state of neurotic anxiety.

(Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

Neurotic reactions to unusual, severe, or overwhelming military stress.

(Combat Neurosis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)