catharsis
A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting…A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).
» They need a sense of catharsis.
Meaning
5 senses(countable, uncountable)A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).
Katharsis
ката́рсисkatársis, ка́тарсисkátarsis
(countable, uncountable)Any release of emotional tension to the same effect, more widely.
Katharsis
ката́рсисkatársis, ка́тарсисkátarsis
(countable, uncountable)A purification or cleansing, especially emotional.
(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions
(countable, uncountable)A therapeutic technique to relieve tension by reestablishing the association of an emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and then eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).
(countable, uncountable)A purging of the digestive system.
Examples
2 sentencesThey need a sense of catharsis.
Aristotle said that the point of art was to achieve catharsis.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Ancient Greek κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “IFrom Ancient Greek κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “I cleanse”). Coined in the dramatic-emotional sense by Aristotle.
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Forms
plural: catharsesSynonyms
3 synonyms- (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions:katharsisabreaction
- purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels:katharsispurgation
Word family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable