Definition of "hyperesthesia" [hy•per•es•the•si•a]

• An abnormal or pathological increase in sensitivity to sensory stimuli, as of the skin to touch or the ear to sound. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Where the sensibility of a part is increased the condition is known as hyperesthesia, and where it is lost -- that is, where there is no feeling or knowledge of pain -- the condition is known as anesthesia."
• "It’s called hyperesthesia, and one of my cats suffers from it."
• "” “It is, ” he says, “a kind of hyperesthesia in the use of language."