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Showing results for persecution complex. Search instead for Persecution mania.

persecution complex

British  

noun

  1. 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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Nothing, it seems, can shatter this persecution complex.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.