catharsis

ca·thar·sis

noun \kə-ˈthär-səs\

plural ca·thar·ses \-ˌsēz\

Definition of CATHARSIS

1

: purgation

2

a : purification or purgation of the emotions (as pity and fear) primarily through art

b : a purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension

3

: elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression

Examples of CATHARSIS

1. Acting is a means of catharsis for her.
2. Painting is a catharsis for me.
3. She has learned to have her catharsis, take a deep breath and move on. … she does not dwell on the negative anymore. —Selena Roberts, New York Times, 24 June 2001
4. … malevolence is expressed in his decision to absent himself from the courtroom, thereby denying some victims of his torture the catharsis of compelling him to hear their stories of survival. —George F. Will, Newsweek, 25 May 1987
5. … there's the need for catharsis. If you play it all back a second time, you may wear away some of the pain, as you wear away a record with replaying. —Anatole Broyard, New York Times Book Review, 14 Nov. 1982
6. As soon as we emerged from the gates of the White House, I became aware of that sea of faces. … I wanted to cry for them and with them, but it was impossible to permit the catharsis of tears. —Lady Bird Johnson, 24 Nov. 1963, in A White House Diary, 1970

Origin of CATHARSIS

New Latin, from Greek katharsis, from kathairein to cleanse, purge, from katharos

First Known Use: circa 1775

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

ca·thar·sis

noun    (Medical Dictionary)

plural ; ca·thar·sesalso ; ka·thar·ses \-ˌsēz\ (audio pronunciation)

Medical Definition of CATHARSIS

1

: purgation

2

: elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression—compare abreaction

Variants of CATHARSIS

ca·thar·sis also ka·thar·sis \kə-ˈthär-səs\ (audio pronunciation)

catharsis

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Purging or purification of emotions through art. The term is derived from the Greek katharsis (“purgation,” “cleansing”), a medical term used by Aristotle as a metaphor to describe the effects of dramatic tragedy on the spectator: by arousing vicarious pity and terror, tragedy directs the spectator's own anxieties outward and, through sympathetic identification with the tragic protagonist, purges them.