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Münchausen syndrome

Münchausen syndrome noun: a factitious (artificial) mental disorder in which a person feigns illness or psychological trauma in order to garner attention or sympathy.

Noun

Münchausen syndrome (countable and uncountable, plural Münchausen syndromes)

  1. A factitious (artificial) mental disorder in which a person feigns illness or psychological trauma in order to garner attention or sympathy.
    Synonyms:
    factitious disorder, factitious disorder imposed on self

Synonyms of Münchausen syndrome

  • factitious disorder
  • factitious disorder imposed on self

Forms of Münchausen syndrome

pluralMünchausen syndromes
alternative formMunchausen syndrome
alternative formMünchhausen syndrome
alternative formMunchhausen syndrome
alternative formMunchausen's syndrome

Origin of Münchausen syndrome

From the German name Münchhausen, after the fantastical tales related by the fictional Baron Munchausen (sic) in Rudolf Erich Raspe's English-language novel Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia (1785). The character was loosely based on Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen (1720–1797).

Words formed from Münchausen syndrome

Questions about Münchausen syndrome

What does Münchausen syndrome mean?
Münchausen syndrome means a factitious (artificial) mental disorder in which a person feigns illness or psychological trauma in order to garner attention or sympathy.
What part of speech is Münchausen syndrome?
Münchausen syndrome is a noun.
What is the plural of Münchausen syndrome?
The plural of Münchausen syndrome is Münchausen syndromes.

Words near Münchausen syndrome in the dictionary

  1. Müllerian ducts
  2. Müllerian mimicry
  3. Müllerian-inhibiting hormone
  4. Müllers
  5. Müllheim
  6. Münchausen syndrome
  7. Münchausen syndrome by proxy
  8. Münchausen syndromes
  9. Münchausen's syndrome
  10. München
  11. Münchhausen syndrome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Münchausen syndrome (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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Cite this entry: “Münchausen syndrome.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/m%C3%BCnchausen_syndrome. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.