wendigo psychosis
/ˈwɛndiɡoʊ saɪˈkoʊsɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.12 in modern English
31
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
5
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A psychological condition specific to some Native American groups, in which a person in fever-induced delusions believes that they are possessed by a cannibalistic wendigo spirit, or in which members of the groups hysterically believe a person to be so possessed.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- ""Windigo psychosis" has been the most celebrated culture trait of the Northern Algonkian peoples for almost half a century. […] The conclusion reached is that, although aspects of the windigo belief complex may have been "components in some individuals' psychological dysfunction" (Preston 1980: 128), there probably never were any windigo psychotics in the sense that cannibalism or murder was committed to satisfy an obsessional craving for human flesh. It is argued, rather that windigo psychosis as an etic/behavioral form of anthropophagy is an artifact of research conducted with an emic/mental bias."
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɛndiɡoʊ saɪˈkoʊsɪs/
- British English: /ˈwɛndɪɡəʊ saɪˈkəʊsɪs/