siege mentality

English

Etymology

siege +‎ mentality, from the experience of military defenses of real sieges.

Noun

siege mentality (countable and uncountable, plural siege mentalities)

1. A collective feeling of victimization and defensiveness, in which a group of people believe themselves to be constantly attacked, oppressed, or isolated in the face of the negative intentions of the rest of the world.

Translations

collective feeling of victimization and defensiveness

• Dutch: frontmentaliteit f, belegeringsmentaliteit f
• German: Wagenburgmentalität (de) f
• Polish: syndrom oblężonej twierdzy (pl)

See also

• trench mentality