delirium

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Eugene recognized no one, but his eyes followed Beulah continually; and when his delirium was at its height only her voice and clasp of his hand could in any degree soothe him.

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Definitions (9)

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  1. noun A temporary state of mental confusion and fluctuating consciousness resulting from high fever, intoxication, shock, or other causes. It is characterized by anxiety, disorientation, hallucinations, delusions, and incoherent speech.
  2. noun A state of uncontrolled excitement or emotion: sports fans in delirium after their team's victory.

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Examples (50)

  • Her words came in fitful snatches as if spoken in a delirium, and at times she would pause and grip the rail to stare back, wild-eyed, at the receding island Suddenly she started, and in a sort of blinding, noonday blaze I saw her face blanch with horror. —  The Best Short Stories of 1920 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story
  • His tongue was loosened in his delirium, and Young heard a story that made his heart beat faster and revived hopes he had considered almost dead. —  Tess of the Storm Country
  • I thought of all this by snatches probably between my attacks of delirium--for an hour and a half or so before Colia's departure Can there be an appearance of that which has no form? —  The Idiot
  • He is next seized with violent delirium, and in his horrible paroxysms froths at the mouth, tears the flesh from his hands and arms, pulls his hair, and beats himself violently against the ground, meanwhile uttering the most piercing cries, till, completely exhausted, he remains without motion or feeling, and death ensues. —  The Young Llanero A Story of War and Wild Life in Venezuela
  • "There must be slight delirium, and I suppose I shall be doing no good by trying to stop him. —  !Tention A Story of Boy-Life during the Peninsular War
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin dēlīrium, from dēlīrāre, to be deranged : dē-, de- + līra, furrow; see leis-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French délire = Spanish Portuguese Italian delirio = D. G. Danish Swedish delirium, from Latin delirium, madness, delirium, from delirus, mad, raving: see delirate.
 

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/dəˈlɪriəm/
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