Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Sudden impairment of neurological function, especially that resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage; a stroke.
  • noun A sudden effusion of blood into an organ or tissue.
  • noun A fit of extreme anger; rage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 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.]

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[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; see plāk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word apoplexy.

Examples

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

    HowStuffWorks Daily Feed 2010

  • 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 2010

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

    Matthew Yglesias » Ghost Busters As Rightwing Agitprop 2007

  • 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 Walter Scott 1801

  • 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 2008

  • 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.

    Diane Ackerman: What My Husband and Gabrielle Giffords Share Diane Ackerman 2011

  • 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.

    Diane Ackerman: What My Husband and Gabrielle Giffords Share Diane Ackerman 2011

  • 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 2008

  • 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... 2008

  • 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.

    The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A fit of extreme anger; rage

    June 11, 2009

  • Oughn't there be a list with obsolete medical terms? Halp

    November 24, 2018

  • There ought. There's afflictions-of-the-realm and lots of old pharmacy terms formerly-used-in-medicine, but I still nominate you to create a more specific one for our amusement.

    November 26, 2018