paranoid
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Exhibiting excessive fear, suspicion.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pehruhnoydSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɛɹənɔɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of, related to, or suffering from clinical paranoia.
informal
Exhibiting excessive fear, suspicion, or distrust.
noun
A person afflicted with paranoia
A person suffering from paranoia.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of, related to, or suffering from clinical paranoia.
Used this way, paranoid is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: person afflicted with paranoia
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