schizophrenia
Americannoun
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Formerly dementia praecox. Psychiatry. a spectrum of mental disorders characterized by emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, hallucinations, or a combination of any of these symptoms.
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Sometimes Offensive. a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements.
noun
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any of a group of psychotic disorders characterized by progressive deterioration of the personality, withdrawal from reality, hallucinations, delusions, social apathy, emotional instability, etc See catatonia hebephrenia paranoia
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informal behaviour that appears to be motivated by contradictory or conflicting principles
Other Word Forms
- nonschizophrenic adjective
- schizophrenic adjective
- unschizophrenic adjective
Etymology
Origin of schizophrenia
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In his police interview, he told officers he had schizophrenia and had been hearing voices in his head.
From BBC
Three psychiatrists who assessed Skebas agreed he had schizophrenia and was showing symptoms of psychosis on the day he killed Lilia.
From BBC
Evidence will be heard relating to the actions of agencies that had previously dealt with Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
From BBC
The secretary also recently declared that the ketogenic diet can cure schizophrenia, a fringe idea that has been rejected by every expert in the field.
From Salon
Understanding the biological basis of subjective experience may help researchers develop better therapies for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia by narrowing the gap between animal studies and human emotional experience.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.