psychotic
adjective
psy·chot·ic
sī-ˈkä-tik 
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
Examples of psychotic in a Sentence
He was diagnosed as psychotic.
a psychotic patient who was recently admitted
Recent Examples on the Web
While docked in Florida, the troupe encounters trouble in the form of psychotic Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch), a deranged murderer with a taste for sideshow carnage.
—
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2025
Together, O’Neill and Alicia navigate a rabbit hole of deranged folk singers, psychotic cops, boxing promoters, line dancing enthusiasts, and worst of all, podcasters, the truth blurs, bodies stack, and the nature of their search comes into question.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The definition and stigma related to the disorder have also evolved from a conceptualization of childhood psychotic illness to a social-communication disorder.
—Dr. Sunny Patel, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
The results, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found that synthetic users had more severe psychotic symptoms, high dissociative symptoms with little improvement over time, and limited recovery from alexithymia.
—Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for psychotic
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Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2025
Together, O’Neill and Alicia navigate a rabbit hole of deranged folk singers, psychotic cops, boxing promoters, line dancing enthusiasts, and worst of all, podcasters, the truth blurs, bodies stack, and the nature of their search comes into question.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2025
The definition and stigma related to the disorder have also evolved from a conceptualization of childhood psychotic illness to a social-communication disorder.
—Dr. Sunny Patel, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
The results, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found that synthetic users had more severe psychotic symptoms, high dissociative symptoms with little improvement over time, and limited recovery from alexithymia.
—Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for psychotic
Cite this Entry
“Psychotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychotic. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
psychotic
1 of 2 adjective
psy·chot·ic
sī-ˈkät-ik
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected with psychosis
psychotic
2 of 2 noun
: a psychotic individual
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