Paranoia

//ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The obsolete name for a psychotic disorder, now called delusional disorder, often (in one of six subtypes) characterized by delusions of persecution and a perceived threat against the individual affected with the disorder, and often associated with false accusations and a general mistrust of others. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    a psychological disorder characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur wordnet
  3. 3
    Extreme, irrational distrust of others. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
alternating personalitybrain diseasecatatoniacatatonic schizophreniacrack upcrack-up

Example

More examples

"Saying no to unequal language rights isn't the same thing as paranoia."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”). By surface analysis, para- (“abnormal, beyond”) + nous (“mind”) + -ia (“(medical) condition”).

Related phrases

paranoid schizophrenia

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