as in complainer
a person who is often or always worried about being ill
My brother is a real hypochondriac. Every time he reads about some new disease, he thinks he has it.
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Recent Examples of hypochondriac
USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2025
Two hypochondriac siblings have taken to the mountains to avoid all electromagnetic frequencies in this hypnotic lesson in claustrophobia and the evocative power of light.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 June 2024
Read the full Virgo Daily Horoscope Libra (September 23 - October 22)
Releasing your inner hypochondriac?
—USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Noun
As the moon clashes with Mercury, beware of a hypochondriac streak.
Read the full Cancer Daily Horoscope
Leo (July 23 - August 22)
Emotional ups and downs?
—USA TODAY, 5 Jan. 2025
Two hypochondriac siblings have taken to the mountains to avoid all electromagnetic frequencies in this hypnotic lesson in claustrophobia and the evocative power of light.
—J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
Easing the burden on our country’s emergency rooms could very well put us on the path to more effective, efficient patient care for everyone—including hypochondriacs.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 June 2024
Read the full Virgo Daily Horoscope Libra (September 23 - October 22)
Releasing your inner hypochondriac?
—USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hypochondriac
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypochondriac
Adjective
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Her mother, Pattie (Alli Mauzey), is ludicrously hypochondriacal, as if atoning for the chromosomal accident that produced her quick-aging child.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
8 Dec. 2021
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Many women with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease first named in 1877, were misdiagnosed as mentally unwell and dismissed as hypochondriacal well into the 20th century.—
Elinor Cleghorn,
WSJ,
12 June 2021
Adjective
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More importantly, if just one lock were disabled or destroyed, the passage from east to west would be essentially inoperable, crippling the United States and its military defenses.—
Shoshi Parks,
Popular Science,
14 Aug. 2025
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In June, in another move that captured media attention, Carney asked the local delegation of state legislators to give his town the option to cap property taxes for longtime residents, disabled veterans and first responders.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hypochondriac.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypochondriac. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.
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