Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for sociopath. Search instead for sociopathy.
Synonyms

sociopath

American  
[soh-see-uh-path, soh-shee-] / ˈsoʊ si əˌpæθ, ˈsoʊ ʃi- /

noun

Psychiatry.

  1. a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

sociopath British  
/ ˌsəʊsɪˈɒpəθɪ, ˈsəʊsɪəˌpæθ /

noun

  1. psychiatry another name for psychopath

"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
sociopath Cultural  

  1. Someone whose social behavior is extremely abnormal. Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others. (Compare psychopath.)

Other Word Forms

  • sociopathic adjective
  • sociopathy noun

Etymology

Origin of sociopath

First recorded in 1940–45; socio- + -path

Compare meaning

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

Explanation

A sociopath is a person with a mental illness that manifests in extremely antisocial behavior and the inability to distinguish right from wrong. You're probably right to be afraid of a sociopath. Pathology means illness, and so socio- pathology means social illness. If someone is a sociopath, that means that they have a social sickness––they lack the ability to be social. Many movies and TV crime shows feature plots involving sociopaths, but hopefully the TV is the only place you ever encounter sociopaths.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing sociopath

Common Senses: Path ("Feeling")

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

We the People: Soc

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

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.

The actor could easily put his skills to use playing a duplicitous sociopath in a psychological drama, but as a comedy “Killing” is simply dead.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

"All but one of the characters is a sociopath, so the movie works on almost no levels. I love to put it on and yell at it."

From BBC • Aug. 9, 2025

Since those calls, I have come to realize that those women simply did not understand that they had been dating a sociopath.

From Slate • Oct. 29, 2024

“Let me explain to you: On 'Veep,' I played a narcissistic, megalomaniac sociopath, and that is not Kamala Harris,” Louis-Dreyfus said of her character, Selina Meyer, on Monday.

From Salon • Aug. 20, 2024

Incidentally, Malcolm also thought that Matthew was a sociopath.

From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson

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.