Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A psychological strategy used unconsciously by people to cope with harmful or stressful situations.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
An automatic reaction of the body against foreign antibodies.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: defense reaction, defence mechanism, defence reaction, defense, defence
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: process, unconscious process, psychoanalytic process
Narrower terms: compensation, conversion, denial, displacement, idealization, idealisation, intellectualization, intellectualisation, isolation, projection, rationalization, rationalisation, reaction formation, regression, repression
History
Calque of German Abwehrmechanismus, a concept in the Freudian model.
Across languages
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
