psychotic

adjective

psy·​chot·​ic sī-ˈkä-tik How to pronounce psychotic (audio)
Synonyms of psychoticnext
1
medical : of, relating to, marked by, or affected with psychosis
a psychotic patient
psychotic behavior
2
sometimes offensive : exhibiting or suggestive of mental or emotional unsoundness or instability
—not used technically

Note: The nontechnical use of psychotic is increasingly viewed as a trivialization of mental illness.

psychotic noun
plural psychotics
psychotically
sī-ˈkä-ti-k(ə-)lē How to pronounce psychotic (audio)
adverb

Synonyms of psychotic

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of psychotic in a Sentence

He was diagnosed as psychotic. a psychotic patient who was recently admitted
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, have attempted to prove that Clancy was not psychotic and that the killings were deliberate. — Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026 Mack testified last Friday and this past Monday that Clancy was not psychotic at the time of the killings and retained her capacity to understand right from wrong and control her behavior. — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026 That wouldn’t have left time for the psychotic, hallucinatory state to begin and for the voices in Clancy’s head to kick in and tell her to kill the children and carry out the suicide attempt, as the defense team has contended, Sprague said. — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2026 But a poor reaction to her recovery medication kicked off a psychotic episode. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for psychotic

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of psychotic was circa 1890

Rhymes for psychotic

See All Rhymes for psychotic

Browse Nearby Words

psychotherapy
psychotic
psychotomimetic
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Psychotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychotic. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

psychotic

1 of 2 adjective
psy·​chot·​ic
sī-ˈkät-ik
: of, relating to, or marked by psychosis

psychotic

2 of 2 noun
: a psychotic person

Medical Definition

psychotic

1 of 2 adjective
psy·​chot·​ic sī-ˈkät-ik How to pronounce psychotic (audio)
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with psychosis
psychotically
-i-k(ə-)lē How to pronounce psychotic (audio)
adverb

psychotic

2 of 2 noun
: a psychotic individual
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All