ENGLISH
REFERENCE

psychotic

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ˌsaɪˈkɑtɪk// UK //saɪkˈɒtɪk// psy·chot·ic Informal

adj. describing someone who has lost touch with reality, often seeing or hearing things that are not there. It is a serious medical word, but people sometimes use it casually to mean 'crazy'.

adj. relating to or suffering from psychosis, a mental disorder characterized by a disconnection from reality. Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'become' or 'appear'.


SIMPLE

The patient was in a psychotic state when he arrived.

CONTEXTUAL

Doctors monitored the patient closely to determine if his erratic behavior was a psychotic episode or drug-induced.

COMPLEX

The film explores the protagonist's descent into a psychotic break, blurring the lines between his vivid hallucinations and the increasingly grim reality of his surroundings.

Synonyms
Origin

Derived in English from psychosis + -tic; compare French psychotique, German psychotisch. Attested from the late 19th century. Compare earlier neurotic.

Usage

Commonly used as a predicative adjective following 'be', 'become', or 'seem'.

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