siege mentality

noun

: a defensive or overly fearful attitude

Examples of siege mentality in a Sentence

Living in a high-crime area can create a siege mentality.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
At best, Farke is going to foster a siege mentality among these wingers. — Beren Cross, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025 But this siege mentality breeds suspicion of outsiders and a defensiveness toward the world. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 Overwhelmed by overcommitment syndrome and overcome by siege mentality, some people burn out, blame the organization, and then leave. — Bruce Tulgan, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025 The Giants, with their ownership’s decades-long siege mentality over territorial rights in the South Bay, had a role to play in this final result. — Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 18 Aug. 2024 See All Example Sentences for siege mentality

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of siege mentality was in 1953

Rhymes for siege mentality

See All Rhymes for siege mentality

Browse Nearby Words

siege
siege mentality
siegenite
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Siege mentality.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/siege%20mentality. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All