| a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness. |
| epidemic hysteria n. See mass hysteria. |
| mass hysteria n. A condition in which a large group of people exhibit similar physical or emotional symptoms, such as anxiety or extreme excitement. Also called epidemic hysteria. |
mass hysteria n.
Spontaneous, en masse development of identical physical or emotional symptoms among a group of individuals, as in a classroom of schoolchildren.
A socially contagious frenzy of irrational behavior in a group of people as a reaction to an event.
