Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

psycho

/ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English

Syllables: psy-cho
IPA: /ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/

16

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Psychotic, psychopathic, or (broadly) otherwise insane.

Colloquial; Derogatory

noun

A person who is psychotic, psychopathic, or (broadly) otherwise insane.

Derogatory; Slang

noun

A person who acts in a bizarre or dangerous manner.

Derogatory; Slang

noun

A class, at a college or university, in which psychology is taught.

Informal; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"That psycho jawn had snuck a pistol into the gym while we was practicing and started shooting shit up like she was some kinda hot female action hero."
"Oh, she's sweet but a psycho / A little bit psycho / At night she's screamin' / "I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind""
"The loony bin up on the hill is full of psychos."
"Oh, she's hot but a psycho / So left but she's right, though / At night she's screamin' / "I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind""
"She complained that he was a psycho for driving at such a high speed in heavy traffic."
"I've got anthro, socio, lunch, and psycho."

Etymology

Clipping of psychotic or psychopath + -o (“person with characteristic”). Compare sicko.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: o

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/
British English: /ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/

Usage

Inflected Forms

more psycho (comparative) most psycho (superlative) syko (alternative, slang) psychos (plural)

Derived Forms

psychobilly psychobitch

Synonyms

freak loony nutcase wacko creep loose cannon weirdo psychotic psychotic person

Rhymes With

miko tycho taiko

Questions

How do you pronounce psycho?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/.
What does psycho mean?: Psychotic, psychopathic, or (broadly) otherwise insane.
Where does psycho come from?: Clipping of psychotic or psychopath + -o (“person with characteristic”). Compare sicko.

How to pronounce psycho

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “psycho”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “psycho”.
Repeat and practice — Say “psycho” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.