Meanings
- uncountableAnxiety concerning one's health, caused by visiting medical websites.
[Sam] Altman’s mother, a dermatologist named Connie Gibstine, told me, “Sam does keep an awful lot tied up inside. He’ll call and say he has a headache—and he’ll have Googled it, so there’s some cyber-chondria in there, too.
2016 October 3, Tad Friend, quoting Connie Gibstine, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 08 Mar 20181 more example
Using “Dr Google” for health purposes is controversial. Some have expressed concerns that it can lead to inaccurate diagnoses, bad advice on where to seek treatment (triage), and increased anxiety (cyberchondria). […] Marcantonio Spada, an academic psychologist at London South Bank University who has researched cyberchondria, said the study was well designed, and highlighted the benefits of internet searching when confronted with health symptoms.
2021 March 29, Natalie Grover, “Looking up health symptoms online less harmful than thought, study says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2022Synonyms: compucondria
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAnxiety concerning one's health, caused by visiting medical websites.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκυβερνάω (kubernáō)
- Ancient Greekκυβερνητικός (kubernētikós)
- Englishcyberneticclip.
- Englishcyber-
- Englishhypochondria
- Englishcyberchondria
Blend of cyber- + hypochondria.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cyberchondria. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyberchondria
“cyberchondria.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyberchondria. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cyberchondria,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyberchondria.
Source: cyberchondria on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.