psycho
part of speech
noun (a psycho, psychos); adjective (informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) (slang, rude/offensive) A person who is thought to be dangerously crazy or violent. tree →
2) (slang) Used loosely to mean very angry, intense or wild: "He went psycho when he lost." tree →
3) (informal) Short for psychology or psychological in words like psychoanalysis; a prefix «psycho-» meaning mind. tree →
sense in the lessons
In films and stories villains are called psychos; in playground slang kids say someone «went psycho». It is unkind and mocks people with mental illness, so careful speakers avoid it. As a prefix in science words (psychology, psychotherapy) it means «mind». Phrases: «go psycho», «a total psycho».
examples
- (slang) "My brother went psycho when I broke his game." tree →
- (rude) The villain in the film was a psycho. tree →
- Calling someone a psycho is unkind. tree →
- Psychology is the study of the mind — «psycho-» means mind. tree →
- "Don't be so psycho about it, it's only a game!" tree →
- The teacher said not to use the word «psycho» as an insult. tree →
note
Plural: psychos. Silent p: SY-ko. Slang and offensive; prefer «very angry», «out of control». Not a medical word. The prefix «psycho-» in proper words (psychology) is fine.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «psycho» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.