psychobiography

noun

psy·​cho·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy ˌsī-kō-bī-ˈä-grə-fē 

-bē-

: a biography written from a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic point of view

also : the application of such a point of view to the writing of a biography

psychobiographer

ˌsī-kō-bī-ˈä-grə-fər 

-bē-

noun

psychobiographical

ˌsī-kō-ˌbī-ə-ˈgra-fi-kəl 

-bē-

adjective

Examples of psychobiography in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Her bookcase displays her many publications: her psychobiography of the poet Robert Lowell, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and her books on suicide, on exuberance and on the connection between mania and artistic genius. —Casey Schwartz, New York Times, 22 May 2023

First Freud’s patient in the 1920s, in 1930 Bullitt also became his collaborator, co-writing a dubious psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson. —Patrick Blanchfield, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2022

And so, duly catering to the market, the book is presented as a psychobiography of the author’s uncle, whose military academy class photo adorns the cover. —Anne Diebel, The New York Review of Books, 8 Sep. 2020

Esa-Pekka Salonen, in his stirring performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Thursday night at Symphony Center, treated it as a masterpiece of pure music, rather than as musical psychobiography. —John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 18 May 2018

Some commentators attempted to bridge this gap by indulging in dubious psychobiography posing as criticism. —Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Dec. 2017

Such speculation makes psychobiography sound like little more than psychobabble. —Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 2 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for psychobiography

• arteriography
• autobiography
• biogeography
• cholangiography
• cinematography
• historiography
• photolithography
• photomicrography
• ultrasonography
• ventriculography
• angiocardiography
• electrocardiography

Medical Definition

psychobiography

noun

psy·​cho·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy -bī-ˈäg-rə-fē, -bē- 

plural psychobiographies

: a biography written from a psychodynamic or psychoanalytic point of view

psychobiographical

-ˌbī-ə-ˈgraf-i-kəl 

adjective