delirium
Pronunciation
  • (RP) enPR: dĭlĭʹrĭəm, IPA: /dɪˈlɪɹɪəm/
Noun

delirium

  1. A temporary mental state with a sudden onset, usually reversible, including symptoms of confusion, inability to concentrate, disorientation, anxiety, and sometimes hallucinations. Causes can include dehydration, drug intoxication, and severe infection.
    • The popular delirium [of the French Revolution] at first caught his enthusiastic mind.
    • the delirium of the preceding session (of Parliament)
    • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man
      Better to decay in absolute delirium, than to be the victim of the methodical unreason of ill-bestowed love.
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