defence reaction
noun
Simple meaning
An unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihfehnsreeakshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈfɛnsɹiˈækʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
psychiatry
An unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
Used this way, defence reaction is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.