schizophrenic

American  

[skit-suh-fren-ik] / ˌskɪt səˈfrɛn ɪk /

adjective

1. Psychiatry. of or relating to schizophrenia.

   Not all of these patients are schizophrenic.

2. of or relating to conflicting or inconsistent elements; characterized by unusual disparity.

   It wavers from comedy to thriller to docudrama—a totally schizophrenic plot!

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noun

Psychiatry.

• schizophrenics
  plural

1. a person with schizophrenia.

   Schizophrenics are often unable to focus on certain objects.

schizophrenic British  

/ ˌskɪtsəʊˈfrɛnɪk /

adjective

1. exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia

2. informal experiencing or maintaining contradictory attitudes, emotions, etc

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noun

1. a schizophrenic person

Usage

It is preferable to refer to a person as someone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than as a schizophrenic . The general use of the word to mean 'contradictory' is also best avoided. Suitable alternatives are contradictory , inconsistent , incoherent

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• schizophrenics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of schizophrenic

First recorded in 1910–15; schizophren(ia) ( def. ) + -ic ( def. )

Explanation

If you are schizophrenic, you suffer from a mental disorder that includes auditory hallucinations and paranoid behavior. Schizophrenics used to be thought to have "split personalities," and the roots of the word attests to that early understanding. The word schizophrenia combines the Greek skhizein, "split," and phren, "mind." Now, the disease is understood differently, but schizophrenic is still sometimes used to refer to anything that changes erratically. A movie that's alternately enthralling and boring might be said to be schizophrenic in its pacing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

schizophrenic schizophrenics

Another was the discovery that Thorazine, the first antipsychotic medication administered to schizophrenic patients, had been shown to block dopamine activity—and, in so doing, melted away delusions and hallucinations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The mental health trust was involved in the care of Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic who killed Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in the Nottingham attacks in June 2023.

From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026

Yet when Lin attempts to break out using strobe effects to reflect Joe’s schizophrenic episodes, it comes off more jarring than immersive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025

The Times quickly issued two formal corrections: The link to incitement was not clear, or plausibly fuzzy, it turned out: The shooter was not a partisan zealot but a schizophrenic.

From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2025

To some, such a regimen might seem simplistic or maddening, even schizophrenic.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Increased lactate levels and reduced pH in postmortem brains of schizophrenics: medication confounds.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024

There were homeless people who had been living in tents in the woods, schizophrenics in need of medication, burn victims whose houses had burned down because of gas leaks.

From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2023

Most were schizophrenics and epileptics at the now-defunct State Hospital for Mental Diseases in Howard, Rhode Island, where Delgado’s occasional collaborator Hannibal Hamlin was a staff psychiatrist.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2017

But that performance pales compared to his role in Jon Avnet’s Three Christs, where he plays one of a trio of schizophrenics who claim to be Jesus.

From The Verge ● Sep. 22, 2017

And, indeed, there may be something wrong with the apparatus in schizophrenics; they have, it is said, an unfamiliar odor, recently attributed to trans-3- methylhexanoic acid, in their sweat.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas