animus

[an-uh-muhs]

noun

1. strong dislike or enmity; hostile attitude; animosity.

2. motivating purpose or intention; animating spirit.

3. (in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the masculine principle, especially as present in women.

animus

/ ˈænɪməs /

noun

1. intense dislike; hatred; animosity

2. motive, intention, or purpose

3. (in Jungian psychology) the masculine principle present in the female unconscious See also anima

Word History and Origins

Origin of animus¹

First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin: literally, “mind, spirit, courage, passion, wrath”; akin to Greek ánemos “wind”; anima

Word History and Origins

Origin of animus¹

C19: from Latin: mind, spirit

Example Sentences

I won’t quote the clips suddenly flooding social media, the apparent result of someone’s late and incompetent oppo research, of his saying things that betray to my ear an obvious animus.

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Even after all this, Mr. Mamdani could have brought his city together by making it clear that most New Yorkers didn’t harbor animus over religion or race.

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To prove vindictive prosecution, a defendant must show through objective evidence that the prosecutor acted with “genuine animus” and that the defendant would not have been prosecuted except for that hostility.

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Webb said an internal investigation into the incident concluded there was no racial animus.

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Decades of research has shown that racial animus and racism are tied to support of the GOP, conservatism and, now, Trumpism.

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