split personality
Americannoun
noun
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the tendency to change rapidly in mood or temperament
-
a nontechnical term for multiple personality
Etymology
Origin of split personality
First recorded in 1925–30
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.
“I walked out understanding that this was the split personality of my life,” Newsom writes in “Young Man in a Hurry.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2026
"It's almost like we have a split personality," says Sylvia Carrillo, city manager of Bastrop, which has a growing population of more than 12,000.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2025
Because of the derivation of the term and because it literally meant "split," people decided schizophrenia meant split personality.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2023
Golden State developed a split personality as it proceeded in fits and starts, displaying the pride and potency that marked its dynasty years and a baffling new alter ego that seemed scattered and, frankly, mediocre.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2023
"Elly, Elly, Elly," the first voice mumbled, while the other voice went on hissing, "Miss Greenwood, Miss Greenwood, Miss Greenwood," as if I had a split personality or something.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
