suicidal ideation

noun

: the act of thinking about or a state of preoccupation with ending one's own life : the act of considering or planning suicide
He had been hospitalized several times for depression and suicidal ideation: the previous summer he had checked himself into a hospital in Laramie.Melanie Thernstrom
Alleviating gender dysphoria and aligning gender expression with identity through these treatments can lower stress, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and significantly lessen suicidal ideation.Orion Rummler

Examples of suicidal ideation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Garcia said Setzer spoke to his chatbot about his suicidal ideation and was not referred to suicide crisis lines, such as 988. Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2025 Britt, of Alabama, said that tech companies should be prohibited from using algorithms to direct certain types of content to young people between the ages of 13 and 17, citing statistics showing the prevalence of suicidal ideation among teenagers and young women, in particular. Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 16 July 2025 Chatbots did respond appropriately to symptoms of suicidal ideation roughly 80% of the time, but there were some potentially extremely dangerous answers that cropped up. PC Magazine, 13 July 2025 The message Kimble has is that for some teens, suicidal ideation doesn't look like hopelessness or despair. Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for suicidal ideation

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of suicidal ideation was in 1949

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Cite this Entry

“Suicidal ideation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suicidal%20ideation. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

Medical Definition

suicidal ideation

noun
: the act of thinking about or a state of preoccupation with ending one's own life : the act of considering or planning suicide
Depression appears to be one of the strongest predictors of suicidal ideation but does not appear to distinguish those who have attempted suicide from those who have experienced suicidal ideation without attempts.E. David Klonsky et al., Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Burnout among medical students seems to be an important predictor of subsequent suicidal ideation even without symptoms of depression.Liselotte N. Dyrbye et al., Annals of Internal Medicine
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