psycho
[sahy-koh]Slang.
- a psychopathic or psychotic person.
- a crazy or mentally unstable person.
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- psychopathic or psychotic.
- crazy; mentally unstable.
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Origin of psycho
First recorded in 1935–40; by shortening
psycho-
- a combining form representing psyche (psychological) and psychological (psychoanalysis) in compound words.
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Also especially before a vowel, psych-.
Origin of psycho-
< Greek, combining form of psȳchḗ breath, spirit, soul, mind; akin to psȳ́chein to blow (see psykter)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
loonypsychoticcrazynutspsychoneuroticcrazedmadmentalpsychopathicscrewyunbalancedcertifiableExamples from the Web for psycho
Contemporary Examples
In Psycho a psychiatrist (the young Simon Oakland) tells us in clinical terms what we've seen.
When, in succession, he made Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and The Birds (1963).
To bolster my case I told him we should actually call it Pursuito, like Vertigo or Psycho.
From Psycho to Frankenstein, watch scenes from the director's 10 favorite creepy classics.
Revisit that horrid 1997 Psycho redo, or the misguided ABC miniseries version of The Shining that came out the same year.
‘Rosemary’s Baby’: How NBC Gave Birth to a New Version of Roman Polanski’s Horror ClassicKevin Fallon
May 9, 2014
Historical Examples
Down the hall, a patient screamed suddenly in the psycho ward.
Criminal NegligenceJesse Francis McComas
It was so in keeping with his features that it served to strengthen the psycho diagnosis.
The Old MartiansRoger Phillips Graham
Hell, don't you know any language but that psycho double-talk?
The Planet SaversMarion Zimmer Bradley
Psycho wouldn't do you any good if you weren't, that's the truth.
Dangerous AgesRose Macaulay
Maybe he was psycho and they didn't notice; they had some godawful asses for psychiatrists in war medicine.
The BrainAlexander Blade
psycho
- an informal and offensive word for psychopath or psychopathicSee psychopath
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psycho-
sometimes before a vowel psych-
- indicating the mind or psychological or mental processespsychology; psychogenesis; psychosomatic
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Word Origin
from Greek psukhē spirit, breath
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
Word Origin and History for psycho
adj.
1927, shortening of psychological; 1936 (Raymond Chandler) as shortening of psychopathic (adj.).
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n.
1925, short for psychologist; as short for psychopath from 1942.
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psycho-
word-forming element meaning "mind, mental; spirit, unconscious," from Greek psykho-, combining form of psykhe (see psyche). It also was used to form compounds in Greek, e.g. psychopates "soul-beguiling."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
psycho
(sī′kō)- A psychopath.
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- Crazy; insane.
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psycho-
- Mind; mental:psychogenic.
- Mental activities or processes:psychomotor.
- Psychology; psychological:psychosocial.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.