Paranoia

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  paranoia \par`a*noi"a\ (p[a^]r`[.a]*noi"[.a]), n. [NL., fr. Gr.
     para`noia.]
     1. (Med.) A chronic form of insanity characterized by very
        gradual impairment of the intellect, systematized
        delusion, and usually by delusions of persecution or
        mandatory delusions producing homicidal tendency. In its


        mild form paranoia may consist in the well-marked
        crotchetiness exhibited in persons commonly called
        "cranks." Paranoiacs usually show evidences of bodily and
        nervous degeneration, and many have hallucinations, esp.
        of sight and hearing.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. Unwarranted suspicion of the motives of others; -- used
        colloquially in a non-technical sense. [Colloq.]
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  paranoia
       n : a psychological disorder characterized by delusions of
           persecution or grandeur

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  43 Moby Thesaurus words for "paranoia":
     alternating personality, brain disease, catatonia,
     catatonic schizophrenia, crack-up, dementia praecox,
     depersonalization, disconnection, dissociation,
     dissociation of personality, double personality, dual personality,
     emotional disorder, emotional dissociation, emotional instability,
     functional nervous disorder, hebephrenia,
     hebephrenic schizophrenia, insanity, maladjustment,
     manic-depressive psychosis, melancholia, mental disorder,
     mental dissociation, mental illness, multiple personality,
     nervous breakdown, nervous disorder, neurosis,
     paranoid personality, paranoid psychosis, paraphrenia,
     personality disorder, personality disorganization,
     problems in living, psychosis, reaction, schizoid personality,
     schizoidism, schizophrenia, schizothymia, social maladjustment,
     split personality