psychopath

[ sahy-kuh-path ]

noun

1. a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.

psychopath

/ ˈsaɪkəʊˌpæθ /

noun

1. a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts Also calledsociopath

psychopath

1. A mentally unbalanced person who is inclined toward antisocial and criminal behavior. ( Compare sociopath .)

Derived Forms

• ˌpsychoˈpathic, adjective
• ˌpsychoˈpathically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychopath¹

First recorded in 1880–85; psycho- + -path

Example Sentences

Set in a variety of sexy locations, some of them actually where they claim to be — including England, Turkey, Croatia, Estonia, Spain and Germany — it, too, is a serial-killer story in a way, though the resident psychopath, the Jackal, kills people for money rather than to gratify some bizarre psychosis.

From Los Angeles Times

Yaari's assessment of Sinwar, built up over the times they met, was that he is a psychopath.

From BBC

I said to myself, this man is not normal, he is a psychopath.

From BBC

So she goes and plays to 75,000 people, then she comes off, and I’m sure she’s like, “I’m a psychopath for being able to do that.”

From Los Angeles Times

This is necessary for civilization to exist, but it makes humans easy marks when faced with an apparent psychopath.

From Salon

Related Words

• lunatic
• maniac
• psycho
• sociopath