psychopath

American  

[sahy-kuh-path] / ˈsaɪ kəˌpæθ /

noun

1. a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.

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psychopath British  

/ ˈsaɪkəʊˌpæθ /

noun

1. Also called: sociopath.  a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts

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psychopath Cultural  

1. A mentally unbalanced person who is inclined toward antisocial and criminal behavior. (Compare sociopath.)

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Other Word Forms

• psychopathic adjective
• psychopathically adverb

Etymology

Origin of psychopath

First recorded in 1880–85; psycho- + -path

Compare meaning

How does psychopath compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sociopath vs. psychopath

Example Sentences

When Ms. Rosario was working, which was almost all the time, Mosley stopped by to make sure Michael hadn’t been kidnapped by psychopaths or brainwashed by daytime television.

From Literature

People paying their respects at the memorial were taken aback, with one commenting that, even in Utah, “there are some psychopaths.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Either I am a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you.”

From Salon

In a court filing last month, the former sheriff disputed an assessment by a county-hired expert psychiatrist that described him as having “many attributes of a ‘white-collar psychopath.’

From Los Angeles Times

My Hollywood ending was far from glamorous: me, catatonic on Nick’s couch, realizing I had given it all up for an honest-to-God psychopath.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• lunatic
• maniac
• psycho
• sociopath