cathartic

¹ca·thar·tic

adjective \kə-ˈthär-tik\

Definition of CATHARTIC

: of, relating to, or producing catharsis <cathartic drugs> <a cathartic experience>

— ca·thar·tic·al·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of CATHARTIC

1. There's something cathartic about a punch in the nose. —Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated, 28 Jan. 2002
2. But Vietnam is hard to sell as a tidy, cathartic morality tale of troubled times overcome. —Jennifer Homans, New Republic, 2 & 9 Dec. 2002
3. Many veterans, at first reluctant to speak, ultimately uncorked their emotions in a cathartic explosion. —Stanley Karnow, New York Times Book Review, 22 Nov. 1992
4. It provokes no healthy tears, whereas Cervantes never fails … to open the cathartic floodgates. —Anthony Burgess, Homage to Qwert Yuiop: Selected Journalism 1978-1985, 1986

Origin of CATHARTIC

Late Latin or Greek; Late Latin catharticus, from Greek kathartikos, from kathairein (see catharsis)

First Known Use: 1612

Other Psychology Terms

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

Rhymes with CATHARTIC

antarctic, Antarctic, Nearctic

²ca·thar·tic

noun \kə-ˈthär-tik\

Definition of CATHARTIC

: a medicine that causes the bowels to be purged : purgative

Origin of CATHARTIC

(see ¹cathartic)

First Known Use: 1651

Other Pharmacology Terms

anodyne, emetic, emollient, liniment, paregoric, poultice, purgative, soporific, spectrum