Log in or Sign up
psychopath love

psychopath

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person who engages repeatedly in criminal and antisocial behavior without remorse or empathy for those victimized.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A morally irresponsible person.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person with a personality disorder indicated by a pattern of lying, cunning, manipulating, glibness, exploiting, heedlessness, arrogance, delusions of grandeur, sexual promiscuity, low self-control, disregard for morality, lack of acceptance of responsibility, callousness, and lack of empathy and remorse. Such an individual may be especially prone to violent and criminal offenses.
  • noun A person diagnosed with antisocial or dissocial personality disorder.
  • noun A person who has no moral conscience.
  • noun A person who perpetrates especially gruesome or bizarre violent acts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone with a sociopathic personality; a person with an antisocial personality disorder (`psychopath' was once widely used but has now been superseded by `sociopath')

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from psychopathic.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German psychopatisch, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psyche, "soul") + πάθος (pathos, "suffering").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word psychopath.

Examples

  • Thus, I propose that the medical community move to formally and exclusively resurrect the term psychopath where the honor is due, if only for basic public health and safety purposes.

    Melody Moezzi: Get to the Doctor, Dr. Ahmadinejad! 2009

  • Now, officially, psychiatrists don ` t use the term psychopath anymore.

    The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America 2003

  • Several of the 20 items require the examiner to rate personality traits that we historically think of when we use the term "psychopath," such as whether the person shows a lack of remorse or guilt, appears callous, seems superficially charming, and has an inflated sense of self-worth i.e., the personality component.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • My primary reservation about using the PCL-R in the criminal justice system is that research suggests its personality component and the label "psychopath" are highly stigmatizing, evoking images of fictional villains like Hannibal Lecter as well as real-world serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • Several of the 20 items require the examiner to rate personality traits that we historically think of when we use the term "psychopath," such as whether the person shows a lack of remorse or guilt, appears callous, seems superficially charming, and has an inflated sense of self-worth i.e., the personality component.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • My primary reservation about using the PCL-R in the criminal justice system is that research suggests its personality component and the label "psychopath" are highly stigmatizing, evoking images of fictional villains like Hannibal Lecter as well as real-world serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

    NPR Topics: News 2011

  • We should remember, however, that the term psychopath is a concept, one not necessarily fully present in reality.

    Earthpages.ca - Think Free Earthpages.ca 2010

  • No, given the stature of psychopaths like Hitler, Stalin, and Ted Bundy, Bill Clinton is not in the same league nor should he have his image inset next to the term psychopath in the dictionary.

    QandO 2009

  • Though we prefer to use the term psychopath to refer to those born lacking a healthy emotional substratum that renders human morality and conscience active in individuals, we agree that the condition is becoming an epidemic in our days and suggest the following books to anyone interested in educating themselves on the subject:

    Signs of the Times 2009

  • Does Senator Sessions not know that the defining trait of a psychopath is a total lack of empathy?

    Senators signal fierce ideological debate in Sotomayor hearings 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • gangerh commented on the word psychopath

    Son, this is the United States of America. Some would say it's unconstitutional to try to prevent psychopaths from fulfilling their potential.

    From 'Odd Thomas' by Dean Koontz.

    October 3, 2009

  • oroboros commented on the word psychopath

    How crazy people get through the forest?

    January 7, 2010

  • MaryW commented on the word psychopath

    One question people often ask is if there is a difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. Barring the fact that many psychologists deny the existence of either, in a clinical setting the difference is purely semantic. Robert Hare has pointed out that sociologists are more likely to focus on the environmental or socially modifiable facets of the disorder, so prefer the term sociopathy, whereas psychologists and psychiatrists prefer to include the genetic, cognitive, and emotional factors as well as the social factors when making a diagnosis, and therefore would opt for psychopathy. Since I am a brain scientist and am interested in the genetic and neurological causes of this personality disorder, I will use the term psychopath for the purposes of this book.
    James Fallon, The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain (New York: Current, 2013), p. 17

    February 1, 2016