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

Bianchi did so under hypnosis, and convinced more than one psychiatrist that he suffered from multiple personality disorder.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2025

An earlier version of this obituary referred incorrectly to the book in which the term multiple personality disorder was changed to dissociative identity disorder.

From New York Times • May 2, 2024

In total, the caretakers completed more than 800 questionnaires, offering the researchers multiple personality surveys on each tiger.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 4, 2023

Hillyard noted that Walker's own book reveals he has a kind of multiple personality problem called "dissociative identity disorder."

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2022

Her fondness for transformation began at an early age and has developed into something closely resembling a multiple personality disorder.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris