mentally ill
Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of mentally ill
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
He had been placed in Atascadero State Hospital, a maximum-security prison for mentally ill convicts located between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
Wiseman caused instant controversy with his first film, "Titicut Follies," which remains one of his most famous documentaries, shot in 1967 and capturing the bleak reality of an asylum for the mentally ill, Bridgewater.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
“The Housemaid” would be enjoyable enough had Seyfried only been giving a layered performance as a mentally ill housewife.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
In 1811, Saxony’s king converted it into a model asylum for the mentally ill, and for many years it was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
In the late nineteenth century, alarmed by the inhumane treatment of incarcerated people suffering from mental illness, Dorothea Dix and Reverend Louis Dwight led a successful campaign to get the mentally ill out of prison.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
