psychiatrist
Americannoun
-
psychiatrists
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of psychiatrist
First recorded in 1885–90; psychiatr(y) + -ist
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How does psychiatrist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A psychiatrist is a doctor who specializes in emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders. Sigmund Freud is the founder of the field of psychiatry, pioneering psychoanalytic treatment. The noun psychiatrist has Greek roots in psykhe, meaning mind, and iatreia, meaning healing, so the word psychiatrist is literally one who heals the mind. As opposed to a psychologist, who also offers psychotherapy, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor and, as such, can prescribe medication for things like depression and anxiety.
Vocabulary lists containing psychiatrist
100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Twelve Angry Men
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Body Language: Psych ("Mind")
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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:
Dr. Declan Grabb, a psychiatrist and OpenAI’s head of mental health and well-being research, says there is more work to do to ensure ChatGPT responds appropriately to a range of mental-health issues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
A neurologist and a psychiatrist who examined Linton weeks after the crash said she suffered a seizure in the moments leading up to the wreck and completely lost control of the vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
What saved me was reaching out to friends, family and finally a psychiatrist who helped me slow everything down.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Dr Anna Lembke, a Stanford University addiction psychiatrist and author of Dopamine Nation, makes a similar distinction.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Seeing a psychiatrist helped at first, but in the winter of 1949–1950, William plunged into a deep depression.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
There’s a lack of programs — we need more therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and doctors who are versed in helping people who are deaf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The symptoms of FTD speak directly to questions of consciousness that have been investigated and debated by neurologists and psychiatrists for more than a century, and by philosophers for far longer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
ProPublica reported that in January, the department had around 500 fewer psychologists and psychiatrists than it had at the same time last year.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Tan, who said alleged possessions are often accompanied by symptoms of psychosis, insisted Philippine psychiatrists were not seeking to "compete with the Catholic Church", but rather to bridge the gap between culture and science.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
What were the psychiatrists of Walter Reed to do with such a man?
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
