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psychiatric

British  
/ ˌsaɪkɪˈætrɪk /

adjective

  1. of or relating to mental illness or psychiatry

"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

Other Word Forms

Explanation

The adjective psychiatric is good for describing things related to mental illness and its treatment. Use psychiatric when you're talking about the medical specialty that helps people with emotional or mental disorders. You could talk about a psychiatric nurse, a psychiatric hospital, or psychiatric drugs, for example. Any time you see a word that begins with psych you can be sure it has to do with the mind, since psykhe is "mind" in Greek. The suffix iatreia means "healing or care."

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Vocabulary lists containing psychiatric

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.

See Examples For:

They have also been able to reveal neural circuits governing specific memories, feelings and behaviors relevant for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

“And some elements of it seem inarguably true, such as the idea that Clancy’s psychiatric care was woefully uncoordinated,” Bruenig added.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

Before I knew it, I was on four psychiatric drugs.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

They analyzed the general population separately from people receiving psychiatric care.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

It’s a real thing—defined in psychiatric journals, and everything.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

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