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  1. apoplexy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Sudden impairment of neurological function, especially that resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage; a stroke.
  2. n. A sudden effusion of blood into an organ or tissue.
  3. n. A fit of extreme anger; rage: "The proud . . . members suffered collective apoplexy, and this year they are out for blood” ( David Finch).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In pathology, a sudden loss or impairment of consciousness and voluntary motion, caused by the rupture of a blood-vessel in the brain, an embolism, or other cerebral shock. [Sometimes incorrectly used to denote hemorrhage into the tissues of any organ.]

Wiktionary

  1. n. medicine Sudden diminution or loss of consciousness, sensation, and voluntary motion, usually caused by pressure on the brain.
  2. n. colloquial Great anger and excitement.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Med.) Sudden diminution or loss of consciousness, sensation, and voluntary motion, usually caused by pressure on the brain.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain

Etymologies

  1. Old English poplexye, Late Latin poplexia, apoplexia, from Ancient Greek ἀποπληξία (apoplēxia), from ἀποπλήσσειν (apoplēssein) to cripple by a stroke; ἀπό (apo, "from") + πλήσσειν (plēssein, "to strike"): compare with French apoplexie. See plague. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English apoplexie, from Old French, from Late Latin apoplēxia, from Greek apoplēxiā, from apoplēssein, apoplēg-, to cripple by a stroke : apo-, intensive pref.; see apo- + plēssein, to strike. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “They called the phenomenon "apoplexy," a Greek word that translates to being violently struck down, as if from a club.”

    HowStuffWorks Daily Feed

  • “Setting aside for the time being post-modern notions of "best" or "better" (no doubt legions of MFAs are spitting out their Ticonderoga No. 2s in apoplexy), it seems reasonably clear that it isn't the best American book of the year, not by quite a bit.”

    Historical Fiction

  • “What is it with these people that having their worldview questioned results in apoplexy?”

    Matthew Yglesias » Ghost Busters As Rightwing Agitprop

  • “I have chosen to retain my informer's phrase, not being able justly to determine whether it is a corruption of the word apoplexy, as my friend Mr. Oldbuck supposes, or the name of some peculiar disorder incidental to those who have concern in the courts of law, as many callings and conditions of men have diseases appropriate to themselves.”

    Redgauntlet

  • “I have chosen to retain my informer’s phrase, not being able justly to determine whether it is a corruption of the word apoplexy, as my friend Mr. Oldbuck supposes, or the name of some peculiar disorder incidental to those who have concern in the courts of law, as many callings and conditions of men have diseases appropriate to themselves.”

    Redgauntlet

  • “Stroke what used to be called "apoplexy" is probably the best known of such injuries, something that touches nearly every family, since it's the number one long-term disability in the U.S. Like Paul, many stroke survivors end up with aphasia-- and face not only the challenge of re-learning language but also redefining their relationship with loved ones, which may include new obstacles and fewer words.”

    The Huffington Post: Diane Ackerman: What My Husband and Gabrielle Giffords Share

  • “Underlying their apoplexy will be the pervasive American fear that, minus the maximum number of mnemonic devices, anything can and will be forgotten.”

    Peter Mehlman: Jingo

  • “You really should restrain yourself, too much excitement in a man of your age could lead to apoplexy, that is if you are not already there?”

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...

  • “Apoplexy, whose adjective form, apoplectic, came to mean “red-faced with rage,” is now called “stroke” like apoplexy, from the Greek plessien, “to strike” because this third largest killer in the United States was nothing to treat lightly.”

    Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time

  • “The symptoms were described as apoplexy, similar to those of a woman who died in Paris called”

    Madame Midas

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hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. attack

hyponyms (4)

Words that are more specific

  1. ischemic stroke
  1. ischaemic stroke
  1. haemorrhagic stroke
  1. hemorrhagic stroke

same context (23)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. epilepsy
  2. catalepsy
  3. pleurisy
  4. alcoholism
  1. sciatica
  2. bronchitis
  3. jaundice
  4. palsy
  1. faintness
  2. chorea
  3. embolism
  4. lunacy
  1. appendicitis
  2. rheumatism
  3. diarrhea
  4. sunstroke
  1. ague
  2. engorgement
  3. sclerosis
  4. paralysis
  1. toothache
  2. diarrhoea
  3. convulsion

reverse dictionary (25)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. hepatic apoplexy
  2. parapoplexy
  3. poplexy
  4. choroid apoplexy
  5. apoplectic
  1. apoplectiform
  2. cerebral apoplexy
  3. pseudo-apoplectic
  4. stertorous
  5. apoplectoid
  1. antapoplectic
  2. apoplex
  3. apoplexed
  4. apoplexious
  5. bloodstroke
  1. ingravescent
  2. fit
  3. apoplexy
  4. acute hemorrhagic encephalitis
  5. megrim
  1. sideration
  2. sunstroke
  3. arteriosclerosis
  4. degeneration
  5. vitular

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‘apoplexy’ has been looked up 3513 times, loved by 8 people, added to 73 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 22.