Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

folie à deux

American  
[fo-lee uh doo, faw-lee a ] / 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.


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of folie à deux

Borrowed into English from French around 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

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

From The New Yorker Jun. 21, 2016

It’s telling how often the image of insanity shows up in creative pairs; two people making their own reality resembles what psychiatrists call a folie à deux, “a madness shared by two.”

From Slate Oct. 9, 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

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training