suicide

American  

[soo-uh-sahyd] / ˈsu əˌsaɪd /

noun

• suicides
  plural

1. the intentional taking of one's own life.

2. destruction of one's own interests or prospects.

   Buying that house was financial suicide.

3. a person who intentionally takes their own life.

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verb (used without object)

suicided, suiciding

1. to intentionally end one’s own life; to die by suicide.

verb (used with object)

suicided, suiciding

1. to kill (oneself ).

suicide British  

/ ˈsjuː-, ˈsuːɪˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act or an instance of killing oneself intentionally

2. the self-inflicted ruin of one's own prospects or interests

   a merger would be financial suicide

3. a person who kills himself intentionally

4. (modifier) reckless; extremely dangerous

   a suicide mission

5. (modifier) (of an action) undertaken or (of a person) undertaking an action in the knowledge that it will result in the death of the person performing it in order that maximum damage may be inflicted on an enemy

   a suicide attack

   suicide bomber

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Sensitive Note

In English, the verb suicide exists (e.g., Many teens who suicide have experienced abuse or bullying ), but its use is rare. Rather, the most common way to express the idea of taking one’s own life uses the noun suicide in the expressions to commit suicide or to attempt suicide . However, the phrase commit suicide is discouraged by major editorial style guides, mental health professionals, and specialists in suicide prevention. The verb commit is associated with crime (in the justice system) and sin (in religion). Using such moralistic language deepens the emotional pain surrounding a suicide. The verb phrases to die by suicide and to end one’s life are now preferred over the common expression commit suicide . The adjectives successful , unsuccessful , and failed are words that should be avoided when describing a suicide or suicide attempt, as is language that either romanticizes or stigmatizes the act. Suicide is undeniably a hard subject to broach. It is okay to talk about suicide; studies show that discussing suicide with someone will not make that person suicidal or increase the likelihood of acting on suicidal ideation. But using language that criminalizes the act is insensitive to those whose lives have been touched by suicide.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antisuicide
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• suicides
  plural

Etymology

Origin of suicide

First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin suīcīdium, equivalent to Latin suī “of oneself,” genitive singular of reflexive pronoun + Latin combining form -cīda “killer”; see origin at -cide

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

suicide suicides suicided

And during Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s 2017 confirmation hearings, some media outlets claimed that President Donald Trump’s nominee had plagiarized parts of his 2006 book about assisted suicide.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

In both alleged letters, Harp reflects on her father’s suicide and thanks Trump for “always being there for me” as her “Guardian and Protector in this Life.”

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Twisha's family lawyer Ankur Pandey told BBC Hindi that since the CBI has invoked sections related to abetment to suicide, "it means that the investigation has considered the death to be an alleged suicide".

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Nitrite and nitrate testing is not routinely required in every suspected suicide, making it difficult to determine exactly how many deaths are associated with the chemical.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

The world was full of fathers—was therefore full of misery; full of mothers—therefore of every kind of perversion from sadism to chastity; full of brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts—full of madness and suicide.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

She could write and she wrote a great deal, including detective fiction, a gothic thriller “of devilry, seduction, and hashish” and stories about “ghosts, suicides, and kidnapping.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

It claims more than half of police suicides - 32 out of 55 - recorded across the UK from 2022-24 involved officers under investigation.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Licadho said it has documented 23 suicides and dozens of cases of migration, child labor and decreased food consumption linked to microfinance debt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Fatalities in ICE custody are typically the result of poor medical care or suicides, said Shuchart, the former Trump oversight official.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026

There were still questions about the wheel’s safety, and unfounded stories circulated about suicides and accidents, including one that alleged that a frightened pug had leaped to its death from one of the car’s windows.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

The same goes for so much of Picasso's art – from his homage to a suicided young friend, The Death of Casagemas, to his last desperate self-portraits.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 10, 2013

Yes, surely;—and introducing, we remark withal, the "New Era," of Philanthropy, Enlightenment and so much else; with French Revolution, and a "world well suicided" hanging in the rear!

From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 11 by Thomas Carlyle

I could easily have fancied myself a tourist, especially so at Matachin when "Mac" solemnly attempted to "spring" on me the old tourist hoax of suicided Chinamen as the derivation of the town's name.

From Zone Policeman 88; a close range study of the Panama canal and its workers by Harry Alverson Franck