psycho

See also: psycho- and Psycho

English

Alternative forms

• syko (slang)

Pronunciation

• (UK, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ̯.kəʊ̯/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ̯.koʊ̯/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪkəʊ

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

psycho (comparative more psycho, superlative most psycho)

1. (colloquial or derogatory) Psychotic, psychopathic, or (broadly) otherwise insane.
   • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 258:

     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.

   • 2018, Ava Max, Madison Love, Tix, Cook Classics, Cirkut, “Sweet but Psycho”, in Heaven & Hell‎^[1], performed by Ava Max:

     Oh, she's sweet but a psycho / A little bit psycho / At night she's screamin' / "I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"

Translations

(colloquial or pejorative) Psychotic

• Danish: psyko
• German: psycho
• Hebrew: פסיכי (psikhi)
• Indonesian: tak waras
• Interlingua: psychotic, psychopathic
• Portuguese: psicótico (pt) m, psicopático (pt) m, louco (pt), psicopata (pt)
• Swedish: psykopatisk (sv), tokig (sv), vansinnig (sv)

Noun

psycho (plural psychos)

1. (chiefly derogatory, slang) A person who is psychotic, psychopathic, or (broadly) otherwise insane.

   Synonyms: freak, loony, nutcase, wacko

   The loony bin up on the hill is full of psychos.

   • 2018, Ava Max, Madison Love, Tix, Cook Classics, Cirkut, “Sweet but Psycho”, in Heaven & Hell‎^[2], performed by Ava Max:

     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"

2. (chiefly derogatory, slang, loosely) A person who acts in a bizarre or dangerous manner.

   Synonyms: creep, freak, loose cannon, weirdo

   She complained that he was a psycho for driving at such a high speed in heavy traffic.

Translations

psychotic or otherwise insane person

• Bulgarian: психопат (bg) m (psihopat)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精神病人 (jīngshénbìngrén), 精神病患者 (jīngshénbìnghuànzhě)

• Finnish: sekopää (fi), kaistapää (fi), psyko (fi)
• French: psychopathe (fr)
• German: Psycho m (slang), Psychopath (de) m
• Hebrew: פסיכי (psikhi)
• Portuguese: psicopata (pt) m or f, psicótico (pt) m, louco (pt) m, doido (pt) m, insano (pt) m
• Russian: псих (ru) m (psix)
• Spanish: psicópata (es) m or f
• Swedish: psykfall (sv) n, psyk (sv) n, psyko n
• Turkish: sayko

  Ottoman Turkish: دلی (deli)

person acting in a bizarre or dangerous manner

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 黐線佬 / 黐线佬 (ci¹ sin³ lou²)

  Mandarin: 瘋子 / 疯子 (zh) (fēngzi), 狂人 (zh) (kuángrén)

• Finnish: kaistapää (fi)
• German: Verrückte (de) m or f
• Greek: ψυχώ n (psychó)
• Japanese: 狂人 (ja) (きょうじん, kyōjin)
• Portuguese: psicopata (pt) m or f, psicótico (pt) m
• Russian: псих (ru) m (psix)
• Swedish: galning (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} psychopathe, ^{(please verify)} psychotic

Derived terms

• psychobilly
• psychobitch

Etymology 2

Clipping of psychology.

Noun

psycho (uncountable)

1. (informal) A class, at a college or university, in which psychology is taught.

   I've got anthro, socio, lunch, and psycho.

Chinese

Etymology

From clipping of English psychology.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saai⁶ ko¹

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saai⁶ ko¹
    • Yale: saaih kō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saai⁶ ko¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sai⁶ ko¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːi̯²² kʰɔː⁵⁵/

Noun

psycho

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) psychology (as a subject)

Czech

Etymology

Clipping of psychopat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpsɪxo]
• Hyphenation: psy‧cho

Noun

psycho m anim (indeclinable)

1. (informal, figurative) psycho (crazy person)

Adjective

psycho (indeclinable)

1. (informal, figurative) insane, psychopathic

   Jejich vztah je psycho. ― Their relationship is insane.

Further reading

• “psycho”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

German

Etymology

Clipping of psychopathisch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpsyːço]

Adjective

psycho (indeclinable)

1. psycho, psychopathic
   • 2020, Ava Max, M. Marchelier, “Sweet But Psycho (Auf Deutsch)”‎^[3]:

     Sie ist süß doch ein Psycho, ein klein bisschen psycho

     Oh she's sweet but a psycho, a little bit psycho

Declension

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• “psycho”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[4] (in German)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpsɘ.xɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɘxɔ
• Syllabification: psy‧cho
• Homophone: psycho-

Noun

psycho f

1. vocative singular of psycha