emotion

[ih-moh-shuhn]

noun

1. an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.

2. any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc.

3. any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.

4. an instance of this.

5. something that causes such a reaction.

   the powerful emotion of a great symphony.

emotion

/ ɪˈməʊʃən /

noun

1. any strong feeling, as of joy, sorrow, or fear

emotion

1. A psychological state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is sometimes accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.

Other Word Forms

• emotionable adjective
• emotionless adjective
• preemotion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotion¹

First recorded in 1570–80; apparently from Middle French esmotion, from esmovoir “to set in motion, move the feelings,” from Vulgar Latin exmovēre (unrecorded; literary Latin ēmovēre ); e- ¹ ( def. ), move ( def. ), motion ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotion¹

C16: from French, from Old French esmovoir to excite, from Latin ēmovēre to disturb, from movēre to _move

Example Sentences

“Nothing beats whipping up negative emotions. It can create such a powerful force.”

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The reality, though, is starkly different, one where Trumpism is a form of religious politics where faith, emotions, culture, storytelling, disinformation, misinformation and conspiracism dominate.

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"You don't get taught that in schools. They only teach you science, not how to live life and how to handle your emotions better."

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“I feel when I came back, my head switched. I was a way better person, better in the classroom, better on the field. I felt I was controlling my emotions more.”

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If you have been affected by any of the issues or emotions raised in this article, help and support is available at BBC Action Line.

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Related Words

• affection 
• anger 
• concern 
• desire 
• despair 
• empathy 
• excitement 
• feeling 
• fervor 
• grief 
• happiness 
• joy 
• love 
• passion 
• pride 
• rage 
• remorse 
• sadness 
• sentiment 
• shame 

When To Use

What does emotion mean?

An emotion is a spontaneous mental reaction, such as joy, sorrow, hate, and love. Emotions always involve mental activity and sometimes have physical effects on the body, as in She could tell what emotion he was feeling by looking at his face.The word emotion is used generally to refer collectively to these intense feelings or an expression of them, as in The director really wanted to see some emotion from the lead actress.What causes someone’s emotions and how someone feels or expresses their emotions differs from person to person. You and your friend might both feel sad to have failed an important test. Your reaction to your sad emotion might be to cry, while your friend’s reaction might be to shout.The word emotional describes something that is related to emotions, causing an emotion to happen, or easily experiencing emotions.Example: I have a hard time sharing my emotions with people and instead try to appear stoic.