hypochondria

[ hahy-puh-kon-dree-uh ]

noun
  1. Also hy·po·chon·dri·a·sis [hahy-poh-kuhn-drahy-uh-sis]. /ˌhaɪ poʊ kənˈdraɪ ə sɪs/. Psychiatry. an excessive preoccupation with one's health, usually focusing on some particular symptom, as cardiac or gastric problems.

  2. excessive worry or talk about one's health.

Origin of hypochondria

1
1555–65; <Late Latin <Greek, neuter plural of hypochóndrios pertaining to the upper abdomen (supposed seat of melancholy), equivalent to hypo-hypo- + chóndr(os) ensiform cartilage + -ios adj. suffix

Words Nearby hypochondria

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British Dictionary definitions for hypochondria

hypochondria

/ (ˌhaɪpəˈkɒndrɪə) /


noun
  1. chronic abnormal anxiety concerning the state of one's health, even in the absence of any evidence of disease on medical examination: Also called: hypochondriasis (ˌhaɪpəʊkɒnˈdraɪəsɪs)

Origin of hypochondria

1
C18: from Late Latin: the abdomen, supposedly the seat of melancholy, from Greek hupokhondria, from hupokhondrios of the upper abdomen, from hypo- + khondros cartilage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for hypochondria

hypochondria

[ hī′pə-kŏndrē-ə ]


  1. A psychiatric disorder characterized by the conviction that one is ill or soon to become ill, often accompanied by physical symptoms, when illness is neither present nor likely.♦ A person with hypochondria is called a hypochondriac.

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