psychosis
noun
psy·cho·sis
sī-ˈkō-səs 
plural psychoses
sī-ˈkō-ˌsēz
: a serious mental illness (such as schizophrenia) characterized by defective or lost contact with reality often with hallucinations or delusions
Examples of psychosis in a Sentence
The patient suffers from some kind of psychosis.
Recent Examples on the Web
Weed's linked to everything from psychosis to violent behavior to dementia.
—
Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
Introducing Rachel Aviv’s report on one woman’s stunning recovery from psychosis.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
Psychedelics can trigger psychosis in individuals with underlying mental health conditions and, in rare occasions, can cause seizures.
—Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
In the shadow of Coppola’s collective political fantasy Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 phantasmagoria Apocalypse Now put the concept of social disaster and political psychosis into the mainstream, from the Vietnam War to the Covidapocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for psychosis
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Kevin Sabet, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
Introducing Rachel Aviv’s report on one woman’s stunning recovery from psychosis.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
Psychedelics can trigger psychosis in individuals with underlying mental health conditions and, in rare occasions, can cause seizures.
—Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2025
In the shadow of Coppola’s collective political fantasy Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 phantasmagoria Apocalypse Now put the concept of social disaster and political psychosis into the mainstream, from the Vietnam War to the Covidapocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for psychosis
Cite this Entry
“Psychosis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychosis. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
psychosis
noun
psy·cho·sis
sī-ˈkō-səs
plural psychoses
-ˈkō-ˌsēz
: a serious mental illness marked by loss of or greatly lessened ability to test whether what one is thinking and feeling about the real world is really true
Medical Definition
psychosis
noun
psy·cho·sis
sī-ˈkō-səs
plural psychoses
-ˌsēz
: a serious mental illness (as schizophrenia) characterized by defective or lost contact with reality often with hallucinations or delusions
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