Paranoid

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈpæɹ.əˌnɔɪd/

Definitions

1. Exhibiting excessive suspicion and distrust of others' motives or a mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur
2. Excessively distrustful of others' intentions and fearful of persecution or harm without reasonable justification
3. Characterized by an irrational belief that others are plotting against you or seeking to cause you harm

Etymology: Paranoid is a word built from two Greek pieces, and its most striking feature is that its core ingredient, "paranoia," was itself a term about the mind before it was about suspicion. "Paranoia" comes from Ancient Greek roots meaning roughly "beside the mind" (para, "beside," and nous, "mind"), a sense that gave the English language a clinical label for a disordered state of thought. The "-oid" ending does the other work here. It comes from Ancient Greek "eidos," meaning "form" or "shape," which became the suffix "-eidēs" meaning "resembling" or "having the form of." Latin borrowed it as "-oides," and English later took it as "-oid," so an adjective ending in "-oid" describes something that resembles or has the character of the base. Attaching it to "paranoia" gives "paranoid," meaning having the character of paranoia, the sense that the word still carries today when it describes excessive distrust.

Synonyms: suspicious, distrustful, mistrustful, wary, apprehensive

Antonyms: trusting, confident, secure