Alienist

//ˈeɪ.lɪ.ən.ɪst// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An expert in mental illness, especially with reference to legal ramifications. dated

    "‘Are you an alienist?’ I interrupted. ‘Every doctor should be - a little,’ answered that original, imperturbably."

  2. 2
    a psychiatrist and specialist in the legal aspects of mental illness wordnet
  3. 3
    A psychiatrist. dated

Synonyms

All synonyms
adleralienismclinical psychologistfreudhorneyindustrial psychologist

Example

More examples

"‘Are you an alienist?’ I interrupted. ‘Every doctor should be - a little,’ answered that original, imperturbably."

Etymology

Borrowed from French aliéniste, from aliéné (“insane”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.