Word.ws English Dictionary

double bookkeeping

double bookkeeping noun: the tendency, among those who experience delusions, to perceive reality and the delusions as both being real, while remaining unbothered by the discrepancy or inconsistencies between the two.

Noun

double bookkeeping (uncountable)

  1. (idiomatic) The tendency, among those who experience delusions, to perceive reality and the delusions as both being real, while remaining unbothered by the discrepancy or inconsistencies between the two.
    • page 56: It is especially important to know that these patients carry on a kind of “double-entry bookkeeping” in many of their relationships. They know the real state of affairs as well as the falsified one and will answer according to the circumstances with one kind or the other type of...1950, Eugen Bleuler, translated by Joseph Zinkin, Dementia Praecox or the Group of Schizophrenias, International Universities Press
    • While we waited for the doctor to evaluate him, my father did what mental health professionals refer to as double-bookkeeping. He remembered most of what transpired earlier in the day but still believed he was in the hospital to have his pacemaker checked.2012 June 22, Jeneen Interlandi, “When My Crazy Father Actually Lost His Mind”, NYTimes.com

Origin of double bookkeeping

By a metaphor with literal bookkeeping that evokes (1) a mental echo of the double-entry method thereof and (2) the notion of keeping two sets of books as a way to cover up the truth (i.e., by a different figure of speech, to cook the books).

Questions about double bookkeeping

What does double bookkeeping mean?
Double bookkeeping means the tendency, among those who experience delusions, to perceive reality and the delusions as both being real, while remaining unbothered by the discrepancy or inconsistencies between the two.
What part of speech is double bookkeeping?
Double bookkeeping is a noun.

Words near double bookkeeping in the dictionary

  1. double bond
  2. double bonds
  3. double bonus
  4. double bonuses
  5. double booked
  6. double bookkeeping
  7. double bourgeois
  8. double break
  9. double break point
  10. double break points
  11. double breaks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: double bookkeeping (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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