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paranoia

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paranoia

  • /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/ UK
  • /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/ US
  • /ˌpɛɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/ US

Rhymes with -ɔɪə

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”).

By surface analysis, para- (“abnormal, beyond”) + nous (“mind”) + -ia (“(medical) condition”).

noun paranoias · paranoiæ · paranœa · paranoea · paranoïa

  1. countable, obsolete, uncountable A psychotic disorder, now called delusional disorder, often (in one of six subtypes) characterized by delusions of persecution and a perceived threat against the individual affected with the disorder, and often associated with false accusations and a general mistrust of others.

    Similar: paranoidism · Opposite: pronoia

  2. countable, uncountable Extreme, irrational distrust of others.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: delirium, madness, delusion, mistrust, anxiety, wariness, suspicion, distrust, insecurity, misgiving, phobia, jitteriness, hypervigilance, fearfulness, psychosis, obsession

Translations

Every language

noun a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution

Españolparanoia, paranoya, noica
한국어편집병 pyeonjipbyeong, 편집증 pyeonjipjeung, 파라노이아 paranoia
日本語パラノイア paranoia, 偏執病 henshūbyō
中文偏執狂 /偏执狂 piānzhíkuáng, 妄想狂 wàngxiǎngkuáng, 妄想症 wàngxiǎngzhèng
हिन्दीसंविभ्रम samvibhram
Portuguêsparanoia
Françaisparanoïa
DeutschParanoia, Verfolgungswahn
Italianoparanoia
Ελληνικάπαράνοια paránoia
Românăparanoia
Русскийпарано́йя paranójja
Tiếng Việthoang tưởng ảo giác
العربيةبَارَانُويَا baranūyā, جُنُون اِضْطِهَاد junūn iḍṭihād
עבריתפָּרָנוֹיָה paranóya

noun extreme, irrational distrust of others

Españolparanoia, paranoya, noica
中文偏執症 /偏执症 piānzhízhèng, 多疑症
Portuguêsparanoia
Françaisparanoïa
DeutschParanoia
Italianoparanoia
Ελληνικάπαράνοια paránoia, καχυποψία kachypopsía
Românăparanoia
Русскийпарано́йя paranójja
עבריתפרנויה paranóya

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MLA

"paranoia." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/paranoia. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

paranoia. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/paranoia

Chicago

"paranoia." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/paranoia.

BibTeX
@misc{paranoia_2026,
  title = {paranoia},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/paranoia},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}