paranoia

noun

para·​noia ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi-ə 

ˌpa-rə-

1

: mental illness characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations

Psychotic symptoms and paranoia persisted, and she continued to "find clues" of conspiracy against her.

—Helen K. Delichatsios et al.

2

: a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others

The members of America's racist right inhabit a murky world of conspiracy, suspicion, and paranoia.

—Wayne King

paranoiac

ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi-ˌak 

-ˈnȯi-ik

ˌpa-rə-

adjective or noun

or less commonly paranoic

ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi(-i)k 

-ˈnō-ik,

ˌpa-rə-

paranoically

ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi(-i)-k(ə-)lē 

-ˈnō-i-k(ə-)lē

ˌpa-rə-

adverb

Examples of paranoia in a Sentence

She was diagnosed with delusional paranoia.

I had to admit that my fears were just paranoia.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those struggles included paranoia and delusional thinking, Torres said: Gutierrez believed people were watching her, that someone hacked her electronic accounts, and that her husband had taken out a life insurance policy and wanted to kill her. —Nathaniel Percy, Oc Register, 11 Aug. 2025

The town is left to navigate the lingering effects of trauma through horror, paranoia and a touch of existential humor. —Itzel Luna, Chicago Tribune, 10 Aug. 2025

When all but one of 18 children from the same elementary school class inexplicably get out of bed, leave their homes, and vanish into the dark at exactly 2:17 a.m. one night, the small town of Maybrook is plunged into a swirling vortex of chaos, grief, paranoia, and anger. —Megan McCluskey, Time, 8 Aug. 2025

This was the real work, beyond the stabbings, the rapes, the paranoia, the conspiracy theories, the hate speech, the carved‑out crater in the living world where belief had collapsed in on itself like an exploding star. —Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Greek, madness, from paranous demented, from para- + nous mind

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for paranoia

• soya

Kids Definition

paranoia

noun

para·​noia ˌpar-ə-ˈnȯi-ə 

1

: a serious mental illness marked especially by feelings of persecution or an exaggerated sense of one's own importance usually without hallucinations

2

: a tendency toward being overly suspicious and distrustful

Medical Definition

paranoia

noun

para·​noia ˌpar-ə-ˈnȯi-ə 

1

: a psychosis characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations

2

: a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others