What does bipolar mean?
"Bipolar" is an adjective describing something that has two poles or two sharply opposed states. Its most prominent modern use is in medicine, where "bipolar disorder" names a mental health condition marked by alternating episodes of mania or hypomania and depression. Beyond psychiatry, the word appears across science and technology: a bipolar electric device has terminals of opposite charge, neurons such as retinal bipolar cells have two processes extending from the cell body, and writers often describe a divided electorate or an argument with two irreconcilable sides as "bipolar." Formed from the Latin prefix "bi-" (two) and "polar" (relating to a pole), the word carries a connotation of duality and tension between extremes. Because of its clinical meaning, careful speakers avoid casual or joking uses of the term, preferring precise language such as "a person with bipolar disorder" when discussing the condition itself.
adjectiveHaving or relating to two poles or opposites; specifically, of or relating to bipolar disorder, a mental health condition characterized by alternating episodes of mania and depression.
- Relating to bipolar disorder, a condition involving episodes of elevated mood (mania or hypomania) and depression.
- Having or characterized by two poles or two opposite extremes, as in electricity, electronics, or figurative descriptions of divided situations.
"The debate revealed the country's starkly bipolar political landscape."
"She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her early twenties."
"The electrode has two terminals of opposite charge, making the device fundamentally bipolar."
"Bipolar disorder" only entered official diagnostic language in 1980, when it replaced the older term "manic-depressive illness" in the DSM-III.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bipolar
"Bipolar" combines the Latin prefix "bi-," meaning "two," with "polar," which derives via Latin "polus" from the Greek "polos," meaning the pivot of a sphere or axis — the same root that gives us "pole" and "polarity." The word emerged in scientific English in the nineteenth century, first in physics and geometry to describe systems with two poles or foci. It was adopted into psychiatry in the twentieth century, becoming standard terminology after replacing "manic-depressive illness" in the American diagnostic manual in 1980.
How bipolar is actually used
When referring to a person, standard usage is "a person with bipolar disorder" rather than "a bipolar," which is widely considered stigmatizing. In clinical and psychiatric contexts the word is neutral and technical; in everyday speech it is sometimes misused loosely to mean simply "moody" or "indecisive," a usage many consider insensitive given its specific medical meaning.
Easily confused with bipolar
"Polar" relates to a single pole or to opposite extremes in general, while "bipolar" specifically involves two poles or two opposing states.