sociopathic

Definition of sociopathicnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sociopathic Harper is a bit of a dead-eyed, ruthless, sociopathic great white shark. Alison Herman, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026 If readers are at all uncertain of his sociopathic tendencies, Heathcliff then hangs his wife’s dog. Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026 More recently, he's played an abusive husband on Big Little Lies, a sociopathic tech mogul on Succession, and a vengeance-seeking viking caked in dirt and blood in The Northman. Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Jan. 2026 Hedda Nia DaCosta reimagines Henrik Ibsen’s famous anti-heroine as a sociopathic high-society hostess channeling all her frustration into manipulating the many people obsessed with her like an impulsive puppeteer. Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sociopathic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sociopathic
Adjective
  • Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeff Moore acknowledged that Fahim was schizophrenic, but argued that the killings were driven by Fahim’s anger at his workplace dispute with Cuomo, not his mental illness.
    Sean Emery, Oc Register, 14 Apr. 2026
  • In many-minded terms, an octopus’s natural life spans so many lives that the one-minded might call it unnatural or even schizophrenic.
    Mandy-Suzanne Wong, Longreads, 5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
  • This uber-neurotic comedian, actor, writer and now recording artist has spent the better part of two decades making audiences laugh, cringe, and cry, often within the same breath.
    Brittany Delay, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The original Malcolm in the Middle, in the early 2000s, starred Frankie Muniz as the analytical, neurotic protagonist narrating his family’s daily misadventures.
    Allison McClain Merrill, Parents, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The idea of a schizoid Lady M is not entirely without appeal, but despite strong performances across the board, the work runs aground fast.
    Rhoda Feng, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2024
  • The entire movie, of course, was a goof, a schizoid cardboard Vaudeville horror burlesque shot in two days and a night by Roger Corman.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
Adjective
  • Beginning in 2010, emergency rooms began seeing agitated patients who were violent, paranoid and psychotic after ingesting synthetic cathinones sold as bath salts.
    Jonathan Corum, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Safety awareness hasn’t gone anywhere, but the approach tends to be more strategic, rather than paranoid.
    Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The novel gives us a far more detailed and, for that reason, more frightening insight into Norman’s psychopathic condition than is possible in movies and is, in its own medium, just as memorable.
    Therie Hendrey-Seabrook, Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Even worse, if that’s possible, is that his psychopathic narcissism adds a selfish mean streak to his adolescent behavior.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • Among the many obsessive bloggers and observers who cover the industry, the idea was mostly treated as so improbable, even delusional, as to be not even worth taking seriously.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Some incels use the term in a derogatory fashion, believing those who aspire to ascension are delusional.
    David Faris, TheWeek, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Washington’s version of McCall is disciplined but damaged, and possibly afflicted with something like obsessive-compulsive disorder.
    Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • This goes against how therapists try combat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other compulsive behavior, which is predicated on fostering self-trust and accepting uncertainty, the reporting notes.
    Frank Landymore, Futurism, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The aberrant action of our mosaic immune system attacking healthy cells is the basis of autoimmune disease.
    Jerome Groopman, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
  • At the time, many observers treated his approach as aberrant.
    Jack Schlossberg, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Sociopathic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sociopathic. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.

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