psychopath

American  

[sahy-kuh-path] / ˈsaɪ kəˌpæθ /

noun

1. a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.

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psychopath British  

/ ˈsaɪkəʊˌpæθ /

noun

1. Also called: sociopath.  a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts

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psychopath Cultural  

1. A mentally unbalanced person who is inclined toward antisocial and criminal behavior. (Compare sociopath.)

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Other Word Forms

• psychopathic adjective
• psychopathically adverb

Etymology

Origin of psychopath

First recorded in 1880–85; psycho- + -path

Compare meaning

How does psychopath compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sociopath vs. psychopath

Example Sentences

The 34-year-old, who finished 21st in Beijing four years ago, came second in Friday's training, proclaiming himself a very satisfied "psychopath" after overcoming mental and physical challenges.

From Barron's

You’d be unwise to look to the movies for economic insight—this one amounts to an extended fatuous argument that an individual who behaved like a corporate restructuring would be a psychopath.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Ms. Rosario was working, which was almost all the time, Mosley stopped by to make sure Michael hadn’t been kidnapped by psychopaths or brainwashed by daytime television.

From Literature

People paying their respects at the memorial were taken aback, with one commenting that, even in Utah, “there are some psychopaths.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Either I am a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you.”

From Salon

Related Words

• lunatic
• maniac
• psycho
• sociopath