ENGLISH
REFERENCE

paranoid

adj. · n.
US //ˈpɛɹəˌnɔɪd// UK //pˈæɹənˌɔɪd// para·noid
  1. 1 suspicious or worried (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    feeling extremely worried or suspicious that people do not like you or are trying to harm you.

    exhibiting excessive or irrational fear, suspicion, or distrust of others. Often used informally to describe general social anxiety or defensiveness.

    Example

    He felt paranoid that his coworkers were talking about him behind his back.

    Example

    The celebrity became increasingly paranoid about her privacy, eventually refusing to leave her home without a full security detail.
  2. 2 medical condition (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Medicine

    relating to a serious mental illness where someone believes others are out to get them.

    relating to or suffering from clinical paranoia, a mental disorder characterised by systematised delusions. Typically used in a technical or diagnostic context.

    Example

    The patient showed paranoid symptoms and believed the doctors were spies.

    Example

    The psychiatrist noted that the patient's paranoid delusions were becoming more elaborate and resistant to cognitive intervention.
  3. 3 a suspicious person (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Informal

    a person who is always suspicious or thinks others are trying to hurt them.

    a person suffering from paranoia or exhibiting extreme distrust. Often used as a label for someone perceived as irrationally fearful.

    Example

    Don't be such a paranoid; nobody is following you.

    Example

    He was dismissed by his colleagues as a paranoid who saw conspiracies in every minor policy change.
    • alarmist
Origin

From paranoia + -oid.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026