Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Informal A fit of violent emotion, such as anger or panic. Also called conniption fit.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An attack of hysteria; a fit of rage or vexation.
- n. An attack of hysteria; a fit of rage or vexation.
Wiktionary
- n. informal A fit of anger or panic; conniption fit.
- n. A fit of laughing; convulsion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a display of bad temper
Etymologies
- Since 1833, from American English. Unknown origin, perhaps related to corruption or captious. (Wiktionary)
- Mock Latin, perhaps influenced by snip or snap. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Second-place winner Nada Bader, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Crestwood Middle School, met her downfall with the word "conniption" - a fit of rage, hysteria or alarm.”
“The question is who coined conniption and under what circumstances.”
“For now, I trudge on, work hard, and think about all the things I have to get done by Monday without having some kind of conniption fit.”
“It is such a remarkably fierce-looking creature that it has received many names that are neither complimentary nor beautiful, such as conniption bug, alligator, and dragon, and numerous others equally expressive.”
“The Times today reports that up in Snohomish County they have picked 5 spots most along 99 to allow developments with 18 stories; meanwhile down here in seattle we throw a conniption just getting 6 stories near a light rail subway stop in Roosevelt.”
Extra Fizz: 36th Dems Oppose Nickerson Bike Improvements « PubliCola
“I can deny any so-called "trolls" satisfaction by refusing to submit to their conniption fits.”
“Here are five things to know before you saddle up for the premiere Wednesday, 10/9c, Bravo: 1. Extra-large cast: Yes, this season will boast 29 cheftestants, but before you have a conniption trying to remember all the names and faces, know that they all won't be around for long.”
“And Pajamas Media is having a conniption fit … this is too good to be true!”
“This is the same idiot Ventura County bureaucracy that recently had a conniption fit because a hardware store was in the habit of putting out coffee and doughnuts for their early morning customers.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘conniption’.
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Americanism
American words
finest, fast food, acclimate, aluminum, alphabetize, airplane, affirmative action, arugula, backhoe, bangs, base board, bayou and 162 more...
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Mirrored Vowels
Rules:
• The word must have an even number of vowels.
• There must be four or more vowels; thus, at minimum, an A-A-A-A or A-B-B-A pattern.
• The vowels must appear in a mir...feminine, solicitor, caruncular, repackager, semiprimes, fetishises, decomposer, demonlover, recomposer, sepultures, lipotropic, colesterol and 385 more...
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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ipt
script, conscript, description, inscription, prescription, proscription, conniption, receipt, tip toe, tip top, strip tease, Rip Torn and 27 more...
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Nycanthro's list
I like words. Have kept running lists for years now. If I'd been born wealthy I'd be a linguist. Or maybe a semi-reclusive yet world-weary linguist-humanitarian-hiphop-icon known for his humility a...
oaktag, backstory, homonormative, gobshite, imagineer, comeuppance, tomfoolery, ersatz, widdershins, gigajoule, oneupmanship, conniption and 40 more...
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Stuffie: You haven't lived.
Stuff you have.
a fit and fall in it, the last word, the last laugh, boy, girl, baby, cow, at it, it all, the time of your ..., chub-on, conniption and 10 more...
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Wicked Cool Words
These words have been posted on my vocabulary tumblr, wickedcoolwords.tumblr.com!
miasma, libation, laconic, denigrating, deontic, accinge, liquescent, quagmire, exiguous, dirigible, lambasted, lambaste and 89 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 476 more...
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MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
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mager's Words
enigmatic, pragmatic, pulchritudinous, nincompoop, annihilation, sociality, entailment, acrosome, egalitarian, culture, technocracy, shenanigan and 541 more...
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kad's Words
caliph, sylvain, slither, rebbe, sverdrup, vapid, onus, atavistic, cathexis, acathexis, kludge, lithe and 97 more...
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thekatespanos's list
pomposity, gaggle, scintilla, lemming, bilk, vanquish, conflate, plenary, verisimilitude, perspicacious, rattletrap, obdurate and 325 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for conniption.
yarb ...the increasing noise of their own dissensions, or poor Jacqueline's conniptions...
- Malcolm Lowry, October Ferry to Gabriola Jul 30, 2008