What does neuroses mean?
Neuroses is the plural of neurosis, an older general term for mental-health conditions marked by pronounced anxiety, fear, obsessions, compulsions, or physical symptoms associated with distress. It once served as a broad category covering several conditions that modern clinicians distinguish through more specific diagnoses, including anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because the term is now dated in most professional settings, it is more informative to name the particular condition rather than describe it simply as a neurosis. In ordinary usage, the word may also suggest excessive worry or nervous sensitivity, although this informal sense should not be used as a substitute for a clinical assessment. Understanding neuroses is nevertheless valuable because it reveals an earlier stage in the development of modern psychiatric classification and helps explain the vocabulary found in older books and medical records.
plural nounNeurotic disorders, especially anxiety disorders characterized by excessive fear, anxiety, obsessions, or distressing physical symptoms. The term is now dated in most clinical contexts, having been largely replaced by more specific diagnoses such as anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Neurotic disorders, especially anxiety-related disorders characterized by excessive anxiety, fear, obsessions, compulsions, or distressing physical symptoms.
"What were once broadly classified as neuroses are now generally treated under more specific diagnostic categories."
"The psychiatrist described her condition as an anxiety disorder rather than one of the obsolete neuroses."
"Earlier medical texts used the term broadly for various anxiety neuroses and other neurotic conditions."
The regular plural of neurosis; the singular denotes one neurotic disorder.
"The archive contains several case studies of anxiety neuroses written before modern diagnostic classifications."
Once a broad psychiatric label, neuroses has largely given way to more precise diagnoses such as anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does neuroses come from?
The word ultimately comes from Greek neuron, meaning “nerve,” combined with the suffix -osis, used in the formation of names of diseased conditions. Its singular, neurosis, was established in English during the 19th century as a broad medical term for nervous disorders. The plural ending -es was added to form neuroses, and the term subsequently became associated particularly with anxiety and other neurotic conditions.
Related word forms
How neuroses is actually used
This plural is the standard plural of neurosis. In contemporary medicine and psychology, neurotic and neurosis are largely dated general labels, while anxiety disorder and related diagnostic terms are preferred. The older word should not be used to imply that a person's symptoms are trivial or imagined.
Easily confused with neuroses
Neurosis is the singular form; neuroses is its plural.
Neuralgia is severe pain along a nerve, whereas neuroses refers to historically broad mental-health diagnoses centered on anxiety or related symptoms.