sociopathic personality
1
9.5
- noun
- /ˌsoʊsiəˈpæθɪk pɜrˈnælɪti/
- Specialized
:
personalidad sociopática
- Individuals with a sociopathic personality often lack feelings of guilt when committing harmful acts.
Examples
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A sociopathic personality.
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And I got what is called a sociopathic personality.
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That looks like a sociopathic personality.
Blog text (29) -
- High intelligence is not unusual with a sociopathic personality.
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Locking the children in suggests a sociopathic personality.
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Experts say that a sociopathic personality can lead to impulsive and reckless behavior without remorse.
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Many traits associated with a sociopathic personality include charm and manipulation, even in harmful situations.
Synonyms
8
9.6
A serious mental condition where a person often harms others, feels no guilt, and acts boldly
4
9.2
A condition where a person lacks empathy and ignores social rules
2
6.5
A long-term mental condition where a person ignores other people's rights, feels no guilt, and acts impulsively
1
9.0
A person who feels no guilt and often hurts or lies to others
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'sociopathic' (lacking empathy/disregard for others) with 'personality' (a stable set of behavioral and emotional traits), so the overall meaning is directly compositional: a personality showing sociopathic traits. This is a straightforward adjective + noun construction and is not idiomatic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Sociopathic personality may come from the parts social, meaning about other people, and pathic, from a word for 'disease' or illness of feeling. So the phrase gives the image of a person whose social feelings are 'sick' or missing, which is why it describes someone who does not feel guilt or care for others.