REPRESSION
Dictionary entry overview: What does repression mean?
• REPRESSION (noun)
The noun REPRESSION has 3 senses:
1. a state of forcible subjugation
2. (psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
3. the act of repressing; control by holding down
Familiarity information: REPRESSION used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• REPRESSION (noun)
Meaning:
A state of forcible subjugation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
the long repression of Christian sects
Hypernyms ("repression" is a kind of...):
subjection; subjugation (forced submission to control by others)
Meaning:
(psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("repression" is a kind of...):
defence; defence mechanism; defence reaction; defense; defense mechanism; defense reaction ((psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires)
Domain category:
psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)
Meaning:
The act of repressing; control by holding down
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
his goal was the repression of insolence
Hypernyms ("repression" is a kind of...):
control (the activity of managing or exerting control over something)
