hypervigilant
adjective
hy·per·vig·i·lant
ˌhī-pər-ˈvi-jə-lənt 
variants
or hyper-vigilant
: extremely or excessively vigilant : highly or abnormally alert to potential danger or threat
After an accident or an assault, most people tend to feel unsafe, to have a reduced startle threshold, and to be hypervigilant.—
Irvin D. Yalom
Irvin D. YalomThrough its hypervigilant security measures, this state-run airline keeps its passengers safe from everyone except its own surly flight attendants.—Craig Offman
Craig OffmanWe all have to be hyper-vigilant about our own affairs and those of our kids and elderly loved ones.—Teresa Dixon Murray
Teresa Dixon MurrayExamples of hypervigilant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And in a world where daily messages now top a trillion, that hypervigilant regulation becomes necessary.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
The auditory hallucinations, diagnosed in 2021 as schizophrenia, turned the big-hearted, caring side of his personality his family loved into a hypervigilant, protective paranoia that his parents, Elisabeth and Jeffrey, tried to de-escalate.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Psychological effects of generational financial trauma can show up as a scarcity mindset, guilt associated with financial success, or hypervigilant associations with money as a form of control or validation.
—Rahkim Sabree, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Rutherford makes Agathe appear at once hypervigilant and flummoxed, and perhaps this is the truest Austen touch in the movie.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 21 May 2025
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Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 15 Oct. 2025
The auditory hallucinations, diagnosed in 2021 as schizophrenia, turned the big-hearted, caring side of his personality his family loved into a hypervigilant, protective paranoia that his parents, Elisabeth and Jeffrey, tried to de-escalate.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Psychological effects of generational financial trauma can show up as a scarcity mindset, guilt associated with financial success, or hypervigilant associations with money as a form of control or validation.
—Rahkim Sabree, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Rutherford makes Agathe appear at once hypervigilant and flummoxed, and perhaps this is the truest Austen touch in the movie.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypervigilant
Cite this Entry
“Hypervigilant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypervigilant. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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