folie à deux
/ˈfɒli ə ˈdɜː/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.01 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A situation in which two people behave abnormally together in a way that neither of them would individually.
noun
A rare syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one person to another.
Example Sentences
- "And so it came to pass. Ann’s psychiatrist at the time came to believe that the pair were psychotic, and diagnosed Ann with folie à deux, a disorder where two people reinforce each other’s mental illness until it reaches extreme proportions."
Etymology
Inflected Forms
folies à deux (plural)
folie a deux (alternative)
folly à deux (alternative, rare)
folly a deux (alternative, rare)