# siege mentality

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
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.

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

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/siege-mentality