Word
paranoia
Phoneticspara·noia
US/ˌpɛɹəˈnɔɪə/
UK/pˈæɹənˌɔɪɐ/
Definitions
01irrational distrust
n. an extreme and unreasonable feeling that other people do not like you or are trying to harm you.
n. an intense, irrational suspicion or mistrust of others, often involving the belief that one is being targeted or persecuted.
“His paranoia made him believe that his colleagues were talking about him behind his back.”
“The dictator's growing paranoia led him to isolate himself from even his most loyal advisors, fearing a coup at every turn.”
Antonyms
02medical disorder
n. a serious mental illness where a person has false beliefs that others are threatening them.
n. a clinical condition, historically classified as a psychotic disorder, characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur.
“The doctor explained that the patient's paranoia was a symptom of a deeper medical issue.”
“Clinical paranoia is distinguished from general anxiety by the presence of fixed, false beliefs that remain resistant to contradictory evidence.”
Technical
Usage
In modern clinical contexts, this is often referred to as delusional disorder.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Meanwhile, managing the social anxiety, second-guessing and paranoia is a separate concern.” 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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.