Meaning & use
schizotypal
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounmedicaltechnical
Relating to a personality pattern marked by odd beliefs, unusual speech and strong discomfort in close relationships.
Grammar: Often before a noun: schizotypal personality disorder.
Patterns
- schizotypal personality disorder
- schizotypal traits
The psychologist explained that schizotypal personality disorder is different from schizophrenia.
Researchers studied schizotypal traits in university students.
A person with schizotypal features may feel uneasy in social settings.
adjectivecomparablemedical
Describing someone who shows several of these traits, usually at a milder level that may not be a disorder.
Grammar: Can describe a person or traits: a schizotypal person.
Patterns
- be schizotypal
The study compared schizotypal and typical participants on memory tasks.
Some artists have been described as schizotypal because of their unusual imagination.
Scores on the questionnaire showed he was moderately schizotypal.
Common combinations
- schizotypal personality disorder
- Doctors diagnosed schizotypal personality disorder.
- schizotypal traits
- The questionnaire measures schizotypal traits.
- schizotypal thinking
- Schizotypal thinking can include magical beliefs.
- schizotypal symptoms
- Her schizotypal symptoms were mild.
Synonyms and how they differ
- eccentric
- Eccentric describes odd but harmless behavior in daily speech, while schizotypal is a clinical term.
- schizoid
- Schizoid describes a person who prefers isolation and shows little emotion, which is a different pattern.
- odd
- Odd is an ordinary word and carries no diagnosis.
Opposites
Word family
- schizotypy noun
- the range of such traits in the general population
- schizophrenia noun
- a serious mental illness with psychosis
- schizoid adjective
- preferring solitude and showing detachment
- psychotic adjective
- involving loss of contact with reality
Commonly confused: schizotypal or schizophrenic?
schizotypal vs schizophrenic
Schizophrenic relates to schizophrenia, a psychotic illness, while schizotypal describes a milder personality pattern.
Practice
Which term refers to a personality pattern with odd beliefs and discomfort in close relationships?
Choose one answer.
Schizotypal names that personality pattern. Psychotic describes losing contact with reality, which is more severe and different.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “schizotypal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.