noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
General-American:/ˌpɛɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
rhymes with -ɔɪə
CMU ARPABET:P EH2 R AH0 N OY1 AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A psychotic disorder, now called delusional disorder, often (in one of six subtypes) characterized by delusions of persecution and a perceived threat against the individual affected with the disorder, and often associated with false accusations and a general mistrust of others.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: paranoidism
Antonyms: pronoia
2
noun
Meaning 2
Extreme, irrational distrust of others.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a psychological disorder characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: psychosis
History
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”). By surface analysis, para- (“abnormal, beyond”) + nous (“mind”) + -ia (“(medical) condition”).
Across languages
Translations
86 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
paranojë
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Arabic:
بَارَانُويَا
(baranūyā)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Arabic:
جُنُون اِضْطِهَاد
(junūn iḍṭihād)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Armenian:
պարանոյա
(paranoya)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Azerbaijani:
paranoyya
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Belarusian:
парано́я
(paranója)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Bulgarian:
парано́я
(paranója)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Catalan:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Chinese Mandarin:
偏執狂 /偏执狂
(piānzhíkuáng)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Chinese Mandarin:
妄想狂
(wàngxiǎngkuáng)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Chinese Mandarin:
妄想症
(wàngxiǎngzhèng)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Czech:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Danish:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Dutch:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Esperanto:
paranojo
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Estonian:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Finnish:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Finnish:
vainoharhaisuus
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
French:
paranoïa
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Galician:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Georgian:
პარანოია
(ṗaranoia)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
German:
Paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
German:
Verfolgungswahn
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Greek:
παράνοια
(paránoia)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Hebrew:
פָּרָנוֹיָה
(paranóya)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Hindi:
संविभ्रम
(samvibhram)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Hungarian:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Icelandic:
vænisýki
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Indonesian:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Irish:
paranóia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Italian:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Japanese:
パラノイア
(paranoia)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Japanese:
偏執病
(henshūbyō)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Kazakh:
паранойя
(paranoiä)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Korean:
편집병
(pyeonjipbyeong)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Korean:
편집증
(pyeonjipjeung)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Korean:
파라노이아
(paranoia)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Kyrgyz:
паранойя
(paranoyya)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Latin:
paranoea
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Latvian:
paranoja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Lithuanian:
paranoja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Norwegian Bokmål:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Persian:
پارانویا
(pârânoyâ)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Polish:
paranoja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Portuguese:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Romanian:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Russian:
парано́йя
(paranójja)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Scots:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Serbo-Croatian:
paranoja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Serbo-Croatian:
manija proganjanja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Slovak:
paranoja
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Slovene:
paranója
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Spanish:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Spanish:
paranoya
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Spanish:
noica
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Swedish:
paranoia
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Tajik:
паранойя
(paranoyya)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Thai:
โรคจิตหวาดระแวง
(rôok-jìt-wàat-rá-wɛɛng)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Turkish:
paranoya
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Turkish:
yansıtımca
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Ukrainian:
парано́я
(paranója)
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Uzbek:
paranoyya
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Vietnamese:
hoang tưởng ảo giác
— a psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution
Chinese Mandarin:
偏執症 /偏执症
(piānzhízhèng)
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Chinese Mandarin:
多疑症
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Esperanto:
paranojo
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Finnish:
vainoharhaisuus
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
French:
paranoïa
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
German:
Paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Greek:
παράνοια
(paránoia)
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Greek:
καχυποψία
(kachypopsía)
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Hebrew:
פרנויה
(paranóya)
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Hungarian:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Hungarian:
üldözési mánia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Irish:
paranóia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Italian:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Polish:
paranoja
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Portuguese:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Romanian:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Russian:
парано́йя
(paranójja)
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Serbo-Croatian:
paranoja
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Spanish:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Spanish:
paranoya
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Spanish:
noica
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Swedish:
paranoia
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
Swedish:
skuggrädsla
— extreme, irrational distrust of others
