persecution complex

British

noun

psychol an acute irrational fear that other people are plotting one's downfall and that they are responsible for one's failures

"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

Example Sentences

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persecution complex

You'll notice that his persecution complex was in full effect even then, as he whines to Walters that nobody's ever been treated as unfairly as he has been.

From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2024

Kimble: Someone with a persecution complex needs an opponent — they need to be oppressed by something.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2022

Delusions, psychosis, idées fixes, persecution complex, whatever: To some extent it has always been there.

From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2021

But the persecution complex is off the charts.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2021

Quang-ha has a real persecution complex, which is no doubt legitimate.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023