psychopath
/ˈsʌɪkəpaθ
/noun
1A person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviour.For a long time we wanted to believe that here we were dealing with abnormal monsters, psychopaths, or mentally defective, even psychotic individuals....
- Nigel Eastman believes that even if neuroscientists could prove that psychopaths had abnormal brains, they'd still be left with the inconvenient fact that nobody seems to know quite what a psychopath is in the first place.
- Studying the statements of violent criminal psychopaths sheds light on their striking and specific vulnerability and emotional pain.
Synonyms
madman/madwoman, mad person, deranged person, maniac, lunatic, psychotic, sociopath
informal loony, fruitcake, nutcase, nut, nutter, nutjob, cuckoo, psycho, schizo, head case, headbanger, sicko, crank, crackpot
Scottish informal radge
North American informal screwball, crazy, kook, meshuggener, nutso
US informal wing nut
1.1 informal An unstable and aggressive person.She has a boyfriend, who is not an aggressive psychopath like the stalker, but gentle and decent....
- His book is populated with scoundrels, megalomaniacs, psychopaths, manipulators and sadists - people he happens to find interesting.
- History is littered with despots and psychopaths, murderous dullards, evil geniuses, deadly incompetents, calamitous brutes of all descriptions.