schizoid

From Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”) +‎ -oid, from εἶδος (eîdos, “form, likeness”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈskɪtsɔɪd/, /ˈskɪdzɔɪd/

schizoid (comparative more schizoid, superlative most schizoid)

1. characterized by social withdrawal and emotional coldness or flattened affectivity
   • 1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., chapter 8, in The Myth of Mental Illness‎, →ISBN, page 135:

     Abstract symbol systems, such as mathematics, are especially valuable for object-seeking for schizoid personalities. By means of such symbolizations, object contact may be sought and obtained, while at the same time a psychological distance may be maintained between self and other; it is virtually impossible to have a personal relationship and at the same time to maintain such distance.

2. (archaic) schizophrenic
3. (figuratively) Behaving as if one has more than one personality; wildly changeable.
   • 1972, Roy Temple House, ‎Ernst Erich Noth, Books Abroad (volume 46, page 32)

     Babits himself never fully lived up to this program; indeed, the declaration itself shows his schizoid attitude toward poetry: he wants to say out loud that he does not want to be heard.

schizoid (plural schizoids)

1. (psychiatry) someone with schizoid personality disorder
2. (archaic) someone with schizophrenia