Meanings
adjectiveparanoid (comparative more paranoid, superlative most paranoid)
comparative more paranoid · superlative most paranoid
- informalExhibiting excessive fear, suspicion, or distrust.
But can the people on TV see me or am I just paranoid?
1984, Rockwell, “Somebody's Watching Me”2 more examples
People generally want to believe good news, and Max was so paranoid about germs that he'd really love to believe Plum Island was spewing antibiotics and vaccine into the air.
2003, Nelson DeMille, Plum Island“As an autocrat, you have to be paranoid. You’re constantly at risk,” he said. “Everyone around you is lying all the time. You never know who is authentically loyal and who is lying to you.”
2026 February 3, Edward Wong, Julian E. Barnes, quoting Marcel Dirsus, “Ruptures in China’s Leadership Could Be Due to Paranoia and Power Plays”, in The New York Times (Politics section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2026
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivesuffering from paranoia
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishparanoia
- Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
- Proto-Hellenic*wéidos
- Ancient Greekεἶδος (eîdos)
- Englishparanoid
Translations
Arabic بَارَانُويِيّ
- بَارَانُويِيّ (bārānūyiyy)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Catalan paranoic, paranoic
- paranoicof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoicexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoicsomeone suffering from paranoia
Chinese Mandarin 偏執狂的 /偏执狂的, 不信任的
- 偏執狂的 /偏执狂的 (piānzhíkuáng de)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- 不信任的 (bú xìn rèn de)exhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- 妄想狂者 (wàngxiǎngkuángzhě)someone suffering from paranoia
Czech paranoidní, paranoik
- paranoidníexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoiksomeone suffering from paranoia
Dutch paranoïde, paranoïde
- paranoïdeof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoïdeexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paraexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
Esperanto paranoja, paranojulo
- paranojaof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranojulosomeone suffering from paranoia
Finnish vainoharhainen, paranoidinen
- vainoharhainenof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoidinenof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoidiof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- vainoharhainenexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- vainoharhainensomeone suffering from paranoia
French paranoïaque, paranoïaque
- paranoïaqueof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoïaquesomeone suffering from paranoia
- paranosomeone suffering from paranoia
German paranoid, paranoid
- paranoidof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoidexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- Paranoikersomeone suffering from paranoia
- Paranoikerinsomeone suffering from paranoia
- Paranoidesomeone suffering from paranoia
Greek παρανοϊκός, παρανοϊκός
- παρανοϊκός (paranoïkós)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- παρανοϊκός (paranoïkós)exhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- παρανοϊκός (paranoïkós)someone suffering from paranoia
Hungarian paranoiás
- paranoiásof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Icelandic vænisjúkur
- vænisjúkurof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Indonesian paranoid
- paranoidof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Irish paranóiach
- paranóiachsomeone suffering from paranoia
Italian paranoico, paranoide
- paranoicoof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoideof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoicoexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoideexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoicosomeone suffering from paranoia
- paranoidesomeone suffering from paranoia
Japanese 偏執病の, 偏執病的な
- 偏執病の (henshitsubyō no)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- 偏執病的な (henshitsubyōteki na)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Malay paranoid
- paranoidof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Persian پارانوئید, پارانوئیدی
- پارانوئید (pârâno'id)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- پارانوئیدی (pârâno'idi)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Polish paranoiczny, paranoidalny
- paranoicznyof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoidalnyof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoicznyexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoiksomeone suffering from paranoia
- paranoiczkasomeone suffering from paranoia
Portuguese paranoico, paranoico
- paranoicoof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoicoexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoicosomeone suffering from paranoia
Russian параноида́льный, парано́идный
- параноида́льный (paranoidálʹnyj)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- парано́идный (paranóidnyj)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- паранойя́льный (paranojjálʹnyj)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- паранои́ческий (paranoíčeskij)exhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- парано́ик (paranóik)someone suffering from paranoia
Spanish paranoico, paranoide
- paranoicoof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoideof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoicoexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
- paranoicosomeone suffering from paranoia
Swedish paranoia, paranoiker
- paranoiaof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- paranoikersomeone suffering from paranoia
Thai หวาดระแวง
- หวาดระแวงexhibiting extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others
Turkish paranoyak
- paranoyakof, related to, or suffering from paranoia
Ukrainian параноїдальний, параноїк
- параноїдальний (paranojidalʹnyj)of, related to, or suffering from paranoia
- параноїк (paranóik)someone suffering from paranoia
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paranoid
avoidvoidemployeddestroyedLloydFloydBoydunemployedsteroidannoyedFreudasteroiddevoidandroiddiploidoverjoyedbuoyedalloyedsphenoidunalloyedvocaloidarticloidboidcloyed
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
paranoid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paranoid
MLA
“paranoid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paranoid. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paranoid,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paranoid.
Source: paranoid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.