How to use paroxysm in a sentence
13 example sentences · noun
Paroxysm means 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. Example: “He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.”
Examples of paroxysm by meaning
nounA period (especially one of several recurring periods) during the course of an illness when symptoms worsen; a sudden...
- He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages...
nounChiefly followed by of: a sudden outburst of violent activity or feeling; also, the most severe part of an activity or...
- Unable to turn his back on the fanged danger and go on, the bull would be driven into paroxysms of rage.1903 July, Jack London, “The Sounding of the Call”, in The Call of the Wild, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan &...
- He was capable of mighty paroxysms of righteous indignation, and he was indignant as could be when he learned that a C.I.D. man was in the area looking for him.1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “McWatt”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 61
- Indeed in his excitement at this breakthrough he inadvertently dug his nails into the nurse's bottom, a gesture she misinterpreted, so that he had to suffer a paroxysm of breasts and loins in response.1982 August, John Fowles, Mantissa (A Plume Book), New York, N.Y.: New American Library, published September 1983, →ISBN, pages 32–33
nounDisastrous or sudden change.
- Catastrophists argued that most geological change occurred in rare episodes of truly global paroxysm, marked by the "usual suspects" of volcanism, mountain building, earthquakes, and flooding.1999 April, Stephen Jay Gould, “[Charles] Lyell’s Pillars of Wisdom”, in Bruce Stutz, editor, Natural History, volume 108, number 3, New...
More sentences with paroxysm
- You've produced this redolent oxyphonia in me, this mysterious paroxysm of wicked albuminuria.2006, Will Alexander, Sunrise in Armageddon, →ISBN, page 90. From the entry oxyphonia
- Even that sent paroxysms of beloid agony through my neck and throat.2005, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Eternity Artifact, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 222. From the entry beloid
- He showed a rather unblinking, lizard-like stare, except when grimacing, or during his rare paroxysms of blepharoclonus.1973, Oliver Sacks, Awakenings. From the entry blepharoclonus
- Epilepsy began by seizureless paroxysms at about equal frequency in children and adults.1967, Excerpta Medica Foundation, Excerpta medica: Neurology and neurosurgery: Volume 20. From the entry seizureless
- But the recent explosions had tapped just a fraction of Tambora’s compressed magma—the real paroxysm came five days later.2023, Clive Oppenheimer, Mountains of Fire: The Menace, Meaning, and Magic of Volcanoes, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 101. From the entry cimmerian
- Gently undulating, cantabile lines of ‘mourning’ alternate with sharp, anguished note-clusters which work up to a fierce paroxysm of grief.1973, Ann Bond, “New Organ Music”, in The Musical Times, volume 114, number 1565, page 741. From the entry threnody
- I regret that the effect of these statements is a denial of the observation of initial quotidian paroxysms following artificial inoculation.1941, American Journal of Tropical Medicine, volume XXI. From the entry quotidian
- He would stand leaning on his stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages…. From the entry afternoon
Meaning 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.
- noun Chiefly followed by of: a sudden outburst of violent activity or feeling; also, the most severe part of an activity or incident; the climax.
- noun An outburst of a violent argument or disagreement.
Questions about paroxysm in a sentence
- How do you use paroxysm in a sentence?
- Paroxysm is used as a noun. For example: “He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.”
- What is a short sentence with paroxysm?
- “Even that sent paroxysms of beloid agony through my neck and throat.”
- What does paroxysm mean?
- Paroxysm means 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.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: paroxysm (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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