reaction formation
n · noun
Simple meaning
Reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which emotions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reeakshuhnfawrmayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹiˈækʃənfɔɹmeɪʃən
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.
n
In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.
noun
psychiatry
A defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously develops attitudes and behavior that are the opposite of unacceptable repressed desires and impulses and serve to conceal them
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which emotions, desires and impulses that are anxiety-producing or unacceptable to the ego are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency.
Used this way, reaction formation is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It turns up most in academic writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
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.