folie à deux

American  

[fo-lee uh doo, faw-lee a dœ] / fɒˈli ə ˈdu, fɔ li a ˈdœ /

noun

Psychiatry.

plural

folies à deux

1. the sharing of delusional ideas by two people who are closely associated.

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folie à deux British  

/ ˈfɒlɪ æ ˈdɜː /

noun

1. psychiatry mental illness occurring simultaneously in two intimately related persons who share some of the elements of the illness, such as delusions

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Etymology

Origin of folie à deux

Borrowed into English from French around 1890–95

Example Sentences

In psychiatry there is a condition known as folie à deux, which describes how two people share a psychosis.

From Salon • Jun. 21, 2019

In the ideal production, it creates the sense of fire meeting fire in a folie à deux between two ill-matched yet inexorably bound lovers.

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2019

She writes about folie à deux and mass hysteria, doppelgängers, sociopathy, revenge.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 21, 2016

Cue the descent into Cronenbergian folie à deux, right?

From Slate • Sep. 11, 2014

The results are extremely funny in the account of a folie à deux in the dangerous world of teaching, and perceptive in the observation of the creative process.

From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2013