folie à deux

American  

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

noun

Psychiatry.

folies à deux plural

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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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• folies à deux
  plural

Etymology

Origin of folie à deux

Borrowed into English from French around 1890–95

Example Sentences

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.

From New York Times • Apr. 16, 2020

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

From Salon • Jun. 21, 2019

A folie à deux is a forgivable response to the rigors of middle school.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 8, 2019

Cue the descent into Cronenbergian folie à deux, right?

From Slate • Sep. 11, 2014

This small-scale tale of a dangerous folie à deux is rather like Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy or Stephen King's Misery transposed to Merseyside, a tale of celebrity worship gone off the rails.

From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2010