How to Use neurotic in a Sentence

neurotic

1 of 2 adjective
  • He is neurotic about his job.
  • The psychiatrist diagnosed the patient as neurotic.
  • My neurotic mother scolded me for staying out 10 minutes past curfew.
  • For a neurotic like me, the unknown would’ve torn my life to shreds.
    — Heather Havrilesky, The Cut, 9 May 2018
  • A lot of them are called neurotic in the film and in criticisms of the film.
    — Vulture, 25 Jan. 2022
  • Olivia Colman stars again as a neurotic on the verge of collapse.
    — Armond White, National Review, 9 Dec. 2022
  • Dave follows a painfully neurotic white rapper on the come up.
    — Time, 29 June 2023
  • Sang Young agreed with me—we’re just too neurotic and very entitled.
    — Anton Hur, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 June 2026
  • There’s Bill Walsh, the brilliant, neurotic coach who some feel burned out too soon.
    — Daniel Brown, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026
  • Their aim is to spare us the need to have neurotic feelings about the problems of tomorrow.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 30 Nov. 2023
  • Many musicians will tell you that their instruments can be like neurotic guard dogs that sniff out fear.
    — Chris Fleming, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2023
  • The neurotic Jew is a real thing, and these works explore it with nuance and depth.
    — Rachel Israel, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Whitford won an Emmy for his role as the brash, somewhat neurotic deputy chief of staff.
    — Alex Apatoff, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2022
  • In a four-hander where each performer excels in their own way, Wilde gives a neurotic tour de force.
    — ABC News, 24 June 2026
  • The treasure, of course, was the cause of neurotic symptoms, deeply buried in the unconscious.
    — Elizabeth Winkler, The New Yorker, 23 June 2023
  • Too bookish and restrained for mainstream pop, too neurotic for punk, and too bright and structured for post-punk.
    — Brady Gerber, Vulture, 29 Mar. 2021
  • Wood played many characters who were true-blue reliable, and others who were high-strung and neurotic.
    — Tim Gray, Variety, 20 July 2023
  • Block squirts out a capturing of Dreyfuss as a fuzzy-haired neurotic ping-ponging mood changes around the set.
    — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
  • The first clip finds the neurotic young boy going about his day, repeating his voluminous list of fears as if a mantra.
    — Ben Croll, Variety, 13 June 2023
  • Lear would provide comment through this portrait of a neurotic, frayed woman and the people who surround her.
    — Literary Hub, 18 May 2026
  • In other words, a dog’s stress levels would shift based on whether their owner was more or less neurotic, open and aware of their surroundings.
    — Mac Stone, Discover Magazine, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Like Wilson, Lurie doesn’t just invite you into his neurotic headspace.
    — John Semley, The New Republic, 5 Feb. 2021
  • When the same actress took off the glasses and put on a headscarf, she was found to be more open, more conscientious, and less neurotic.
    — Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 26 May 2023
  • Of the many incarnations of the narcissist, there is the braggart, and there is also the neurotic.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2025
  • The benefits of being neurotic Some of the finding might not be all that surprising.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 17 July 2019
  • Or slowly and painfully, like tens of millions of children tossed from school, lagging in math and reading, depressed and neurotic.
    — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 29 Apr. 2021
  • Fearful that the neurotic Florence might try to harm herself, Olive invites her to move in as her roommate.
    — Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 26 Sep. 2021
  • This lower tone with a little smoky croak around the edges can sound casual and natural — to some — or neurotic and unsure to others.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 6 Mar. 2018
  • This lower tone with a little smoky croak around the edges can sound casual and natural --- to some -- or neurotic and unsure to others.
    — Amy Dickinson, chicagotribune.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Some of that came from humanity’s glorious sense of pluck — our need and amazing (or neurotic) ability to find the good in the bad.
    — Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2021

neurotic

2 of 2 noun
  • He is a neurotic about keeping his clothes neat.
  • He was diagnosed as a neurotic.
  • Fisher and Park are cute as two neurotics who are sweet on each other.
    — Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023
  • To all but a few neurotics, dental hygiene is not very enthralling.
    — Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
  • But economy-class neurotics will have to make do while their shrink answers emails or knits cardigans during their sessions.
    — Joe Queenan, WSJ, 11 May 2018
  • Outgoing, funny, and athletic, he is described by those who knew him as the opposite of neurotic.
    — Andy Kifer, New York Times, 11 July 2023
  • Vara is an appealing narrator—smart, funny, honest, and a little neurotic.
    — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Known for his trademark neurotic and self-deprecating style, his act often touched on subjects like his alcohol abuse and struggles with mental health.
    — Jager Weatherby, New York Daily News, 2 Mar. 2024
  • The eight-episode series follows Melissa (Rothwell), a fat, Black neurotic who’s never been in love.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 17 Nov. 2022
  • MacInnes’ neurotic Daisy dreams of agency but is hopelessly caught between two narcissists using her to satisfy their own egos.
    — Bob Verini, Variety, 14 June 2024
  • Don’t underestimate the emotional support a team member might need when dealing with neurotic Noel or hit-the-roof Hannah.
    — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • For example, a partner might innocently forget to take out the trash, but a neurotic spouse may view this as evidence of carelessness or lack of respect, leading to an overblown argument.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024
  • Doubtless this is a version of Freud’s repetition compulsion, the neurotic’s desperate drive to repeat his trauma rather than remember it.
    — Michael Robbins, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Seinfeld, which stars Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, pokes fun at neurotics like Seinfeld and his friends, who overthink and worry about too many little things.
    — Nina Huang, EW.com, 1 May 2020
  • With everything going on in gen AI, from the frontier models to the new frontiers in science and education, Ibrahim is part evangelist and part professional neurotic.
    — Eric Rosenbaum, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Because his subject was surrounded by colorful and often unpredictable characters—alcoholics, neurotics, and blowhards—Perkins’s self-effacing qualities make for a dramatic contrast and a wealth of wild stories.
    — Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
  • In her debut novel, Zaher draws a Venn diagram of the glamorously neurotic and the politically oppressed, then sets her protagonist spinning in that maddening little overlap.
    — Anusha Praturu, Vulture, 22 May 2024
  • After getting his start in television, Grodin graduated to both leading and character roles in motion pictures, usually portraying the exasperated urban neurotic.
    — Carmel Dagan, chicagotribune.com, 18 May 2021
  • Kruger has the moxie to play Marie as a standoffish neurotic, Nyong’o creates an unusually emotional hacker, and Cruz, as the one who’s more devoted to her family than to global realpolitik, proves the sweetest of wild cards.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Jan. 2022
  • Stiller plays Roger Greenberg, a neurotic 40-something who is recovering from a nervous breakdown by crashing at his brother's Hollywood Hills home while his family is on vacation.
    — Lia Beck, EW.com, 12 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'neurotic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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