This paper addresses the problem of adaptive neural output-feedback control for a class of special nonlinear systems with the hysteretic output mechanism and the unmeasured states. A modified Bouc-Wen model is first employed to capture the output hysteresis phenomenon in the design procedure. For its fusion with the neural networks and the Nussbaum-type function, two key lemmas are established using some extended properties of this model. To avoid the bad system performance caused by the output nonlinearity, a barrier Lyapunov function technique is introduced to guarantee the prescribed constraint of the tracking error. In addition, a robust filtering method is designed to cancel the restriction that all the system states require to be measured. Based on the Lyapunov synthesis, a new neural adaptive controller is constructed to guarantee the prescribed convergence of the tracking error and the semiglobal uniform ultimate boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system. Simulations are implemented to evaluate the performance of the proposed neural control algorithm in this paper. © 2012 IEEE.