Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

paranoia

/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.42 in modern English

Syllables
pa-ra-noia
IPA
/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A psychotic disorder, now called delusional disorder, often (in one of six subtypes) characterized by delusions of persecution and a perceived threat against the individual affected with the disorder, and often associated with false accusations and a general mistrust of others.

Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable

noun

Extreme, irrational distrust of others.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”). By surface analysis, para- (“abnormal, beyond”) + nous (“mind”) + -ia (“(medical) condition”).

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/
  • British English: /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

paranoias (plural) paranoiæ (archaic, plural) paranœa (alternative, dated) paranoea (alternative, dated) paranoïa (alternative, hypercorrect)

Derived Forms

coronoia juvenoia maranoia paranoiac paranoialike paranoic paranoically paranoid petronoia technoparanoia

Phrases

paranoid schizophrenia nous#Related terms para-#Derived terms

Frequently Paired Words

nous#Related terms para-#Derived terms

Synonyms

paranoidism

Antonyms

pronoia

Rhymes With

nagoya montoya sequoia soya moya goya toya loya latoya bedoya sequoyah tafoya

Questions

How do you pronounce paranoia?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/.
What does paranoia mean?
A psychotic disorder, now called delusional disorder, often (in one of six subtypes) characterized by delusions of persecution and a perceived threat against the individual affected with the disorder, and often associated with false accusations and a general mistrust of others.
Where does paranoia come from?
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”). By surface analysis, para- (“abnormal, beyond”) + nous (“mind”) + -ia (“(medical) condition”).

How to pronounce paranoia

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “paranoia”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌpæɹ.əˈnɔɪ.ə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “paranoia”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “paranoia” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.