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PAROXYSM
Definition of PAROXYSM
noun
A period (especially one of several recurring periods) during the course of an illness when symptoms worsen; a sudden attack of a disease symptom, such as a bout of coughing or a seizure.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Other senses
PAROXYSM carries 4 further meanings.
noun
A sudden outburst of emotion or action.
“a paroxysm of laughter.”
noun
A sudden attack, recurrence, or intensification of a disease.
noun
A spasm or fit; a convulsion.
noun
In medicine, a fit of any disease; periodical exacerbation of a disease.
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English paroxism, paroxisme (“period of worsening of a disease, attack; sudden recurrent fever”), from Middle French paroxisme, paroxysme, and Old French peroxime (“period of worsening of a disease; bout of fever or illness”) (modern French paroxysme), and from their etymon Late Latin paroxismus, paroxysmus (“a fit; onset of a disease; violent impulse or sadness”), from Ancient Greek πᾰροξῠσμός (păroxŭsmós, “exasperation, irritation; severe fit of a disease”), from πᾰροξῡ́νω (păroxū́nō, “to irritate, provoke”) (from παρα- (para-, prefix meaning ‘parallel to but separate from or going beyond, beside’) + ὀξῡ́νω (oxū́nō, “to provoke; to sharpen”) (from ὀξῠ́ς (oxŭ́s, “sharp”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”))) + -μός (-mós, suffix forming abstract nouns). By surface analysis, para- + oxy- + -ism.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
6 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,614)
How it is built
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
PAROXYSM in a sentence
“Her innards were in paroxysm, violently expelling what they no longer recognized as food.”
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PAROXYSM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 17 boards so far. 155 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 16, 5 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 2 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 16, 5 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PAROXYSM starts with P and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read AMOPRSXY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses X - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that mean much the same
Near-synonyms of PAROXYSM. Not interchangeable at the board - the grid decides that - but close in meaning.
Words that start PAROXY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 16
Could you have found PAROXYSM?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 16 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER