mass hysteria


noun Psychology.

a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness.
Also called epidemic hysteria.

Origin of mass hysteria

First recorded in 1930–35

Medical definitions for mass hysteria

mass hysteria

n.

Spontaneous, en masse development of identical physical or emotional symptoms among a group of individuals, as in a classroom of schoolchildren.
A socially contagious frenzy of irrational behavior in a group of people as a reaction to an event.