neurotic
[adjective]
Synonyms: unstable, abnormal, compulsive, disturbed, maladjusted, manic, nervous, obsessive, unhealthy

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English Thesaurus: mentally ill, crazy, mad, insane, disturbed, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

neu‧rot‧ic /njʊˈrɒtɪk $ nʊˈrɑː-/ adjective

1. unreasonably anxious or afraid:
He seemed a neurotic, self-obsessed man.

2. technical relating to or affected by neurosis:
neurotic disorders
—neurotic noun [countable]:
She accused him of being a neurotic.
—neurotically /-kli/ adverb

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

mentally ill having an illness that affects your mind and your behaviour:
Many mentally ill people are treated in the community.
He was declared mentally ill and unfit to stand trial.
crazy informal mentally ill:
I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was going crazy (=becoming crazy).
mad old-fashioned mentally ill. This word is now usually considered offensive, and is usually used in a different meaning, when you think that someone's ideas are not sensible:
Swift himself went mad (=became mad) later in life.
a mad old woman
insane [not before noun] old-fashioned having a serious and permanent mental illness:
She went insane after her two young sons were murdered.
a hospital for the criminally insane
disturbed not behaving in a normal way because of mental or emotional problems, especially problems that are caused by bad experiences:
She teaches emotionally disturbed children.
Her experiences left her deeply disturbed.
unstable having an emotional state that often changes very suddenly:
Her mother was mentally unstable.
He lived in a small Putney flat with his ageing Aunt Bunny, and his emotionally unstable sister, Nancy.
He was too unstable to be a leader.
deranged behaving in a crazy or dangerous way, usually because of being mentally ill:
A deranged young woman entered the school and took the life of one young boy.
psychopathic having a serious and permanent mental illness that causes violent or criminal behaviour:
The film is about a psychopathic killer.
psychotic suffering from or caused by a serious mental illness that changes your character and makes you unable to behave in a normal way:
psychiatric services for chronic psychotic patients.
There is a tendency for psychotic illnesses to be inherited.
neurotic relating to or suffering from a mental illness that makes you unreasonably worried of frightened:
His mother was neurotic and insecure.
She's neurotic about her weight.
A bored or lonely horse may become so neurotic that it chases itself around in circles.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

nervous worried or a little frightened about something and unable to relax:
Kelly was so nervous about her exam that she couldn’t sleep.
It makes me nervous when you drive that fast.
tense worried and unable to relax in a way that makes you get angry or upset easily:
Mary’s problems at work were making her tense and irritable.
uneasy nervous because you feel that something bad might happen, so that you are unable to relax until the danger has passed:
I began to feel uneasy when he still hadn’t phoned by 11 o'clock.
on edge if you are on edge or your nerves are on edge, you feel nervous because you are worried about what might happen:
My nerves were on edge, waiting for the results of the test.
Redundancies and other work upheavals have put employees on edge.
neurotic nervous and anxious in a way that is not normal or reasonable:
She’s completely neurotic about food hygiene.
a neurotic mother
edgy/jumpy/jittery nervous because you are worried about what might happen:
Investors are a little edgy about the financial markets these days.
There was a lot of pressure on the team tonight and that’s why they were a little jumpy.
highly-strung British English, high-strung American English becoming nervous or upset easily because that is your character:
Like many musicians, he’s very sensitive and highly-strung.
be a nervous wreck to feel extremely nervous and unable to relax:
After 10 months of teaching, I was a total nervous wreck.
have butterflies (in your stomach) informal to feel nervous about something that you are going to do very soon because it is important and you want to do it well:
Actors often have butterflies before going on stage.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲