psychopathic

/,saikou'pæθik/

Thân thiện

A person with a psychopathic condition may show a lack of empathy.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or suffering from psychopathy: Describes a severe mental disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.
   • Manifesting amoral and antisocial behavior: Pertaining to a personality type that shows a profound lack of conscience or empathy, often coupled with manipulative and deceitful behavior.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The forensic psychologist assessed the defendant as psychopathic.
  • The film's villain is a chillingly psychopathic character who feels no guilt.
  • Psychopathic tendencies can be identified through specific behavioral patterns.

Advanced Usage

• "psychopathic personality": A clinical term for an individual exhibiting the core traits of psychopathy.
  • The study focused on the neurological correlates of the psychopathic personality.
• In a non-clinical, figurative sense, the word is sometimes used hyperbolically to describe extremely cruel or callous behavior, though this usage is informal and not diagnostically accurate.
  • His psychopathic disregard for safety regulations endangered everyone.

Variants and Related Words

• Psychopathy (n): The mental disorder or personality condition itself.
  • Psychopathy is a complex psychiatric construct.
• Psychopath (n): A person affected by psychopathy.
  • The term psychopath is often misused in popular culture.
• Sociopathic (adj): Often used similarly, though there are nuanced clinical distinctions between psychopathy and sociopathy.

Synonyms

• Antisocial (in a personality disorder context)
• Sociopathic
• Unfeeling (less clinical, descriptive)

Antonyms

• Empathetic
• Conscientious
• Altruistic

Related Phrases and Collocations

• Psychopathic disorder: A legal or older clinical term for severe personality disorder with antisocial behavior.
  • He was diagnosed with a psychopathic disorder.
• Psychopathic traits/features: Referring to the specific characteristics of psychopathy.
  • The assessment tool measures a range of psychopathic traits.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder

Từ đồng nghĩa

• psychopathologic
• psychopathological