Phrase guide

Oedipus complex

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈidəpəs ˈkɒmplɛks/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈɛdəpəs ˈkɒmplɛks/

1

noun

Meaning 1

In Freudian theory, the complex of emotions aroused in a child by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, medicine, psychoanalysis, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a complex of males; desire to possess the mother sexually and to exclude the father; said to be a source of personality disorders if unresolved

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Oedipal complex

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: complex

History

Etymology

Named after Oedipus in Greek mythology, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: էդիպյան բարդույթ (ēdipyan barduytʻ) — Freudian theory
  • Catalan: complex d'Èdip — Freudian theory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 戀母情結 /恋母情结 (liànmǔqíngjié) — Freudian theory
  • Czech: oidipovský komplex — Freudian theory
  • Danish: ødipuskompleks — Freudian theory
  • Esperanto: Edipa konflikto — Freudian theory
  • Finnish: oidipuskompleksi — Freudian theory
  • French: complexe d’Œdipe — Freudian theory
  • German: Ödipuskomplex — Freudian theory
  • German: Ödipuskonflikt — Freudian theory
  • Greek: Οιδιπόδειο σύμπλεγμα (Oidipódeio sýmplegma) — Freudian theory
  • Irish: coimpléacs Éideapúis — Freudian theory
  • Japanese: エディプスコンプレックス (Edipusu-konpurekkusu) — Freudian theory
  • Macedonian: Едипов комплекс (Edipov kompleks) — Freudian theory
  • Norwegian: ødipuskompleks — Freudian theory
  • Polish: kompleks Edypa — Freudian theory
  • Portuguese: complexo de Édipo — Freudian theory
  • Russian: эди́пов ко́мплекс (edípov kómpleks) — Freudian theory
  • Spanish: complejo de Edipo — Freudian theory
  • Swedish: oidipuskomplex — Freudian theory
  • Turkish: Ödipus karmaşası — Freudian theory
  • Turkish: Ödipus kompleksi — Freudian theory
  • Turkish: Ödipal karmaşa — Freudian theory
  • Yiddish: עדיפּוס קאָמפּלעקס (edipus kompleks) — Freudian theory