folie

[faw-lee]

noun

French.

plural

folies 

1. madness; insanity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of folie¹

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Still, Big and Little Edie are not so far gone in their folie à deux that they are unaware of the Maysles brothers’ presence, and they even interact with the filmmakers at times.

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Gradually, a tale told to gain readmittance to the marriage bed becomes a folie à deux, as the couple plot to row out to Rungholt when it rises from the sea and “rescue” their children.

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Folie à deux describes shared madness within a pair, but here we will focus on folie à groupe, or the spread of mental symptoms in a group.

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It is interchangeably called "shared psychosis," "folie à plusieurs" or "induced delusional disorder."

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It deals with the shared life — call it madness, if you will — of a husband and a wife, and the times when their folie à deux edges into public view.

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