Pseudopatient
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person who pretends to be ill, especially to gain some benefit. dated
"[W]e were informed of a Frank physician who had been rewarded for his professional services by the present of a house, valued at five thousand dollars. […] The original proprietor appeared, and was received with great courtesy by the doctor, who prescribed immediately for some chronic disease of which the Armenian complained. The sum of $500 was put into his hands with great formality by the pseudo patient, and he stopped the grateful doctor's thanks immediately, by informing thim that this sum was not a fee, but an equivalent for the original purchase-money of his house, which he civilly requested him to evacuate as soon as possible."
- 2 A person who poses as a patient so that research may be conducted or staff trained.
"Most of the pseudopatients were falsely diagnosed with mental disorders."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"[W]e were informed of a Frank physician who had been rewarded for his professional services by the present of a house, valued at five thousand dollars. […] The original proprietor appeared, and was received with great courtesy by the doctor, who prescribed immediately for some chronic disease of which the Armenian complained. The sum of $500 was put into his hands with great formality by the pseudo patient, and he stopped the grateful doctor's thanks immediately, by informing thim that this sum was not a fee, but an equivalent for the original purchase-money of his house, which he civilly requested him to evacuate as soon as possible."
Etymology
From pseudo- + patient.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.