hysterically
Meaning
in a wildly emotional and uncontrolled way, often involving extreme laughter or crying
in a manner that is extremely or excessively funny
Structure
Usage
she laughed hysterically at the comedian's joke.
the lost child was crying hysterically in the supermarket.
the situation was so absurd it was hysterically funny.
Etymology
the word 'hysterically' originates from the greek hystera, meaning "womb." in ancient greek medicine, it was believed that certain emotional disturbances, particularly in women, were caused by disorders of the womb. this gave rise to the term 'hysteria' for a state of uncontrollable emotion. the adjective-forming suffix '-ic' was added to create 'hysteric,' and the adverbial suffix '-ally' was later appended to describe the manner of such emotional expression. over time, the meaning broadened beyond its gendered medical origins to describe any instance of wild, uncontrollable emotion or, by extension, something that provokes extreme laughter.
Analysis
hyster (from greek hystera, meaning "womb"); ic (from latin -icus, greek -ikos, forming adjectives meaning "of, pertaining to"); ally (from latin -aliter, via old french -el, forming adverbs from adjectives)