paranoid

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

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

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

“The celebrity became increasingly paranoid about her privacy, eventually refusing to leave her home without a full security detail.”

Informal

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

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

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

“The psychiatrist noted that the patient's paranoid delusions were becoming more elaborate and resistant to cognitive intervention.”

Technical

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

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

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

“He was dismissed by his colleagues as a paranoid who saw conspiracies in every minor policy change.”

Informal