conniption

C3O1N1N1I1P3T1I1O1N1
/kəˈnɪp.ʃən/

noun

A fit of anger or panic; conniption fit.

“The joke was not that funny, but he went into conniptions laughing.”

RareScrabble 14

Meanings

nounconniption (plural conniptions)

plural conniptions

  1. informalA fit of anger or panic; conniption fit.

    When she came downstairs and saw what her children were eating, she had a conniption.

    4 more examples

    I'm in conniptions for the final act you came here for

    2001, “My Plague”, in Iowa, performed by Slipknot

    […]threatened by the conniptions gripping Wall Street

    2008 October 20, Businessweek

    MARC JACOBS is the Michael Bloomberg of the West Village and also its Sam Walton. Jane Jacobs would have loved him, if she wasn’t overcome by conniptions at his oozing influence over her beloved neighborhood streets.

    2010 November 10, John Caramanica, “Monopoly by Marc Jacobs”, in The New York Times

    The Dodgers tried late to make a push for him last winter, with their splashy offseason already over the billion-dollar mark. They expressed interest in him over the trade deadline, even if prying him from the San Francisco Giants would have caused a conniption for fans of the historic rivals.

    2024 November 27, Rabian Ardaya, “For the Dodgers, signing Blake Snell always made the most sense”, in The New York Times

    Synonyms: tantrum, tantrum, catfit, conniption fit, dummy spit, headfit, hissy, hissy fit

  2. A fit of laughing; convulsion.

    The joke was not that funny, but he went into conniptions laughing.

    Synonyms: the giggles

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA fit of laughing; convulsion.

Similar
the giggles

More synonyms by meaning

nouna display of bad temper

Broader
bad temperill temper

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Since 1833, from American English. Unknown origin, possibly a fanciful alteration of corruption, or maybe related to captious. Alternatively an arbitrary pseudo-Latinism coinage.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian истерия
  • истерия (isterija)fit of anger or panic
Czech záchvat
  • záchvatfit of anger or panic
Dutch woedeuitbarsting
  • woedeuitbarstingfit of anger or panic
Finnish kohtaus
  • kohtausfit of anger or panic
French crise de colère, crise de panique
  • crise de colèrefit of anger or panic
  • crise de paniquefit of anger or panic
German Anfall, hysterischer Anfall
  • Anfallfit of anger or panic
  • hysterischer Anfallfit of anger or panic
  • Wutanfallfit of anger or panic
  • Panikattackefit of anger or panic
Hungarian dühroham
  • dührohamfit of anger or panic
Norwegian Bokmål fnatt, raserianfall
  • fnattfit of anger or panic
  • raserianfallfit of anger or panic
  • panikkangstfit of anger or panic
  • hysterisk anfallfit of anger or panic
Polish napad furii
  • napad furiifit of anger or panic
Russian припа́док истерии, исте́рика
  • припа́док истерии (pripádok isterii)fit of anger or panic
  • исте́рика (istérika)fit of anger or panic
  • при́ступ гнева (prístup gneva)fit of anger or panic
Spanish ataque de rabia; rabieta
  • ataque de rabia; rabietafit of anger or panic
Swedish damp, dille
  • dampfit of anger or panic
  • dillefit of anger or panic
  • fnattfit of anger or panic
  • tuppjuckfit of anger or panic
  • frispelfit of anger or panic
Cite this entry
APA

conniption. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conniption

MLA

“conniption.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conniption. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “conniption,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/conniption.

Source: conniption on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.