as in illness
unusual or excessive concern about your health; a tendency to fear or imagine that you have illnesses that you do not actually have
She fueled her hypochondria by reading articles about rare diseases.
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Recent Examples of hypochondria
Illness Anxiety Disorder Colloquially, a constant concern for health is known as hypochondria.
—
Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2025
Changing the approach to identifying and treating hypochondria requires health care professionals to strike a challenging — but necessary — balance of thoroughly vetting their patients’ claims while remaining cautious of not overselling or recommending a battery of tests.
—Hal Rosenbluth, STAT, 17 June 2024
Referrals to mental health professionals who treat hypochondria with cognitive behavioral therapy or medications the Food and Drug Administration has approved for treating hypochondria will create a realistic approach to addressing and validating people living with hypochondria.
—Hal Rosenbluth, STAT, 17 June 2024
She’s got your backs, opening with the moment her own lifelong, free-range hypochondria probably began — when a sweet high school classmate suddenly died of Hodgkin’s disease.
—Joan Frank, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2023
Early on, many doctors, predictably, dismissed these cases as the result of anxiety or hypochondria.
—Meghan O'Rourke, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2021
Tindaro’s perfect pedigree as an eligible bachelor is undermined by his insufferable attitude, rampant hypochondria, and blunt disdain for women.
—Breanna Bell, Variety, 14 Dec. 2022
And Dostoyevsky, with the infernal reveler ejected, is relieved that second of his hemorrhoids, his gambling habit, his seizures, his fevers, his depression, his hypochondria, his appalling futuristic intuitions and obsessions.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2021
To suggest otherwise is nothing short of political hypochondria.
—Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 12 Aug. 2021
Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2025
Changing the approach to identifying and treating hypochondria requires health care professionals to strike a challenging — but necessary — balance of thoroughly vetting their patients’ claims while remaining cautious of not overselling or recommending a battery of tests.
—Hal Rosenbluth, STAT, 17 June 2024
Referrals to mental health professionals who treat hypochondria with cognitive behavioral therapy or medications the Food and Drug Administration has approved for treating hypochondria will create a realistic approach to addressing and validating people living with hypochondria.
—Hal Rosenbluth, STAT, 17 June 2024
She’s got your backs, opening with the moment her own lifelong, free-range hypochondria probably began — when a sweet high school classmate suddenly died of Hodgkin’s disease.
—Joan Frank, BostonGlobe.com, 11 May 2023
Early on, many doctors, predictably, dismissed these cases as the result of anxiety or hypochondria.
—Meghan O'Rourke, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2021
Tindaro’s perfect pedigree as an eligible bachelor is undermined by his insufferable attitude, rampant hypochondria, and blunt disdain for women.
—Breanna Bell, Variety, 14 Dec. 2022
And Dostoyevsky, with the infernal reveler ejected, is relieved that second of his hemorrhoids, his gambling habit, his seizures, his fevers, his depression, his hypochondria, his appalling futuristic intuitions and obsessions.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 19 Oct. 2021
To suggest otherwise is nothing short of political hypochondria.
—Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 12 Aug. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypochondria
Noun
-
Wear masks: All of these respiratory illnesses can be spread through airborne viruses or bacteria particles.—
Evan Moore,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2025
-
Absence of treatment is not absence of illness, of course, but given how much time Gauguin spent in hospitals, that such a familiar disease would have been missed seems unlikely.—
Susan Tallman,
The Atlantic,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
Fusarium head blight, or FHB, is a devastating disease for staple crops like wheat, barley, maize and rice.—
Rebekah Riess,
CNN Money,
4 June 2025
-
By eliminating the need to recruit separate control groups, ECAs can allow studies to progress more quickly, bringing innovative treatments to patients faster, especially in diseases with no existing options.—
Sujay Jadhav,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
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Giving into your kids to avoid your own feelings of stress and anxiety does more harm than good in the long run, says bestselling author and personal growth expert Mel Robbins.—
Ashton Jackson,
CNBC,
30 May 2025
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More than 6 million have a parent with both a substance use disorder and significant symptoms of depression, anxiety or both.—
Ty Schepis,
The Conversation,
30 May 2025
Noun
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The plan lists a slew of excused absences, including sickness among students, major illness in the student’s immediate family, and doctor’s appointments.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
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Medical coverage $75,000 in emergency accident and sickness coverage $250,000 in evacuation and repatriation coverage $750 in emergency dental treatment coverage Pre-existing conditions No coverage for pre-existing conditions within 60 days of your policy’s start date.—
Jason Stauffer,
CNBC,
1 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hypochondria.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypochondria. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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