psychopathy

[ sahy-kop-uh-thee ]

noun

, Psychiatry.

, plural psy·chop·a·thies.

1. a mental disorder in which an individual manifests amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.
2. any mental disease.

psychopathy

/ saɪˈkɒpəθɪ /

noun

1. another name for psychopathic personality
2. any mental disorder or disease

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychopathy¹

First recorded in 1840–50; psycho- + -pathy

Example Sentences

No one screaming lies, demonizing huge swaths of Americans as "enemies" or "poison," or running through the behavioral checklist for psychopathy and narcissism.

From Salon

We can plainly see Trump’s narcissism and psychopathy grow more malignant as the film progresses.

From Los Angeles Times

He described himself as having been “a grinning, brooding young criminal psychopath in defiantly willing bondage to his psychopathy.”

From Los Angeles Times

Although sociopathy may not be as stigmatized as psychopathy, people are still trained to fear sociopaths as potential life-wreckers utterly without empathy.

From Salon

By contrast, sociopathy is more of a "sociological criminological term. We tend not to use it as much clinically, but it's a term that reflects this sort of messy crossroads between psychopathy and narcissism," Durvasula said.

From Salon