| English Dictionary |
REACTION FORMATION
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does reaction formation mean?
• REACTION FORMATION (noun)
The noun REACTION FORMATION has 1 sense:
1. (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them
Familiarity information: REACTION FORMATION used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
(psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Context example:
his strict morality is just a reaction formation to hide his sexual drive
Hypernyms ("reaction formation" is a kind of...):
defence; defence mechanism; defence reaction; defense; defense mechanism; defense reaction ((psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires)
Domain category:
psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)
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