multiple personality

American  

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a rare disorder in which an individual displays several functionally dissociated personalities, each of a complexity comparable to that of a normal individual.

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multiple personality British  

noun

1. Nontechnical name: split personality.  psychiatry a mental disorder in which an individual's personality appears to have become separated into two or more distinct personalities, each with its own complex organization

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Etymology

Origin of multiple personality

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Keough is able, for long stretches, to overcome the script’s banalities; she gets Daisy’s mix of swagger covering for uncertainty, and she gives her a prickly, genuine personality.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2023

The team lacks genuine personality under him, which is fine for a short period.

From The Guardian • Sep. 12, 2018

Take the classicist Mary Beard, whose antic, dirty, capering popular Roman histories bounce with specific examples, historical oddities, cheerful savaging of accepted wisdom and genuine personality.

From Washington Post • Sep. 28, 2017

This very large orchestra not only played with ferocious spirit and genuine personality, but it also produced refined performances notable for credible polish.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2014

The day has passed when a composer could dash off symphonies by the dozen; quality and genuine personality in each work are the modern requirements.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Spalding, Walter Raymond