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

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

From The New Yorker • Feb. 8, 2019

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

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