multiple personality

noun

, Psychiatry.

1. a rare disorder in which an individual displays several functionally dissociated personalities, each of a complexity comparable to that of a normal individual.

multiple personality

noun

1. psychiatry a mental disorder in which an individual's personality appears to have become separated into two or more distinct personalities, each with its own complex organization Nontechnical namesplit personality

Word History and Origins

Origin of multiple personality¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

But, deputies wrote in her file, she said she had “multiple personality disorder” and “stated that she ‘always kinda wanted to die.’”

From Los Angeles Times

“I do believe that that’s why actors are actors because I think everybody is a multiple personality. Actors just choose to access it.”

From Los Angeles Times

An earlier version of this obituary referred incorrectly to the book in which the term multiple personality disorder was changed to dissociative identity disorder.

From New York Times

Dr. Braun gained renown in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder.

From New York Times

An arsenic-laced confection that shows off Doja Cat’s multiple personalities — a romantic and an ironist, an angel and a devil, a singer fluent in dreamy hooks and a rapper with razor-sharp teeth.

From New York Times