psychotic

[ sahy-kot-ik ]

adjective

1. Psychiatry. relating to, characterized by, or exhibiting psychosis: psychotic symptoms;

   a psychotic patient;

   psychotic symptoms;

   psychotic delusion.

   Synonyms: non compos mentis, demented, deranged, disturbed, mad, mentally ill, psychopathic, insane

   Antonyms: lucid, rational, compos mentis, sane

2. (loosely) mentally unstable:

   The man who threw a stone through the convenience store window must be psychotic.

   Synonyms: potty, screwy, batty, daft, cuckoo, kooky, bonkers, nuts, crazy, loony, nutty

3. intensely upset, anxious, or angry; crazy:

   My dad gets so psychotic when I come home even a little bit late.

   Synonyms: pissed off, livid, incensed, irate, wrathful, furious, crazed

   Antonyms: self-possessed, calm

noun

1. Psychiatry. a person afflicted with psychosis.

   Synonyms: maniac, madman, psychopath

2. (loosely) someone who is mentally unstable:

   Her partner is a psychotic who often uses abusive language.

   Synonyms: kook, nutjob, loon, loony, nut

1. someone who exhibits extreme emotion or behavior:

   My brother turns into a complete psychotic whenever his team loses.

   Synonyms: psycho, maniac

psychotic

/ saɪˈkɒtɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by psychosis

noun

1. a person experiencing psychosis

Usage

It is preferable to talk about a person experiencing psychosis rather than a psychotic , which reduces a person's individuality

Derived Forms

• psyˈchotically, adverb

Other Words From

• psy·chot·i·cal·ly adverb
• non·psy·chot·ic adjective
• sem·i·psy·chot·ic adjective
• un·psy·chot·ic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychotic¹

First recorded in 1885–85; psych(osis) + -otic

Example Sentences

Whether it is political, whether it is self‐serving … I can’t help but think it’s psychotic.

From Vox

The teams would respond to “Marcus” alerts, named for a Richmond man who was fatally shot by police during a psychotic episode in 2018.

From Washington Post

Daniel Prude was having a psychotic episode on a Rochester street last year when family members called police for help.

From TruthBeTold.news

Richard Widmark’s psychotic Tommy Udo tops himself in every scene for several oh-no-he-didn’t moments.

From Ozy

Near the end of May, Moriarty experienced another psychotic episode.

From Voice of San Diego

Monis seems to have been both and dedicated to his psychotic beliefs.

From The Daily Beast

Du Pont, 57, was initially declared “actively psychotic” and unfit for trial by a judge, and ordered to a psychiatric hospital.

From The Daily Beast

Abilify is actually a powerful anti-psychotic given to people with severe mental illness.

From The Daily Beast

How can we taxonomize their experience, and differentiate it from hallucination, or psychotic break?

From The Daily Beast

I had a friend sending me weird emails about conspiracies he saw all around him, but he too had stayed shy of a psychotic break.

From The Daily Beast

Of course, being a senile psychotic, he could have considered himself broke even with that amount of money.

From Project Gutenberg

It was obvious that Pepe was a monomaniac, an egomaniac, and as psychotic as a shorted computer.

From Project Gutenberg

This was immediately followed by a marked exacerbation of his psychotic manifestations.

From Project Gutenberg

The distinguishing feature of their psychotic manifestations is that they are provoked essentially by definite situations.

From Project Gutenberg

The prognosis of the acute prison psychotic complex is good in the majority of instances.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• demented
• insane
• mad
• unhinged