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multiple personality disorder
noun
variants
or less commonly multiple personality
: a personality disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct and complex identities or personality states each of which becomes dominant and controls behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the others and results from disruption in the integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity : dissociative identity disorder
Note: The term dissociative identity disorder is now preferred over multiple personality disorder and multiple personality especially in medical contexts.
Examples of multiple personality disorder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Tyler Perry suffered the kind of childhood that caused many children’s brains to create multiple personality disorders, but Tyler was spared disorder.
—Dominique Fluker, Essence, 5 Dec. 2024
Another medical name that's been changed is dissociative identity disorder – a condition that affects only about 1.5% of people and was formerly called multiple personality disorder, or split personality disorder.
—Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 4 Dec. 2024
Bitcoin’s correlation with global economic conditions suffers from multiple personality disorder, making moves in the price impossible to predict.
—Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024
Ian Hacking, the philosopher, argued that such a dynamic fuelled the epidemic of multiple personality disorder in the late twentieth century, and something similar seems to be playing out now with the growing portrayal of dissociative identity disorder, the current name for M.P.D., on social media.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1972, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of multiple personality disorder was
in 1972
Dictionary Entries Near multiple personality disorder
Cite this Entry
“Multiple personality disorder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multiple%20personality%20disorder. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
multiple personality disorder
noun
: a neurosis in which the personality becomes separated into two or more parts each of which controls behavior part of the time
Medical Definition
multiple personality disorder
noun
: a personality disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct and complex identities or personality states each of which becomes dominant and controls behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the others and results from disruption in the integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity : dissociative identity disorder
Note: The term dissociative identity disorder is now preferred over multiple personality disorder especially in medical contexts.
—abbreviation MPDLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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