neurosis

Word family

• neurotic
  adjectiveC1
• neurotic
  nounC2
• neurotically
  adverbC2
• neuroses
  nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Neurosis' is an older medical word that covers a wide range of long-lasting mental problems based on fear or worry. In modern hospitals and clinics, doctors usually say 'anxiety disorder' instead — it is the current technical term and points to specific conditions like generalised anxiety or panic disorder. A 'phobia' is much narrower: a strong, often unreasonable fear of one particular thing, like spiders or flying. An 'obsession' is a repeating thought or wish that someone cannot push out of their mind, and it may be one part of a neurosis but not the whole picture. In everyday writing, 'neurosis' still appears when describing a person whose worries shape their daily life — for example, 'her neurosis about cleanliness controlled every room in the house.'

Common collocations

Etymology

Coined in 1769 by Scottish doctor William Cullen from Greek 'neuron' (nerve) plus the medical ending '-osis' (condition). The word originally described any illness thought to come from the nerves. In the late 1800s, Sigmund Freud and other early psychologists narrowed the meaning to mental and emotional disorders without clear physical damage. Modern medicine has largely replaced 'neurosis' with more precise terms, but the word survives in everyday English.