Oedipus complex

Also Oed·i·pal com·plex

[ed-uh-puhs kom-pleks, ee-duh-]

noun

Psychoanalysis.

1. an unconscious sexual desire directed toward a parent of a different gender, especially by a son toward his mother, usually originating in childhood and expressed through rivalry with the other parent.

Oedipus complex

noun

1. psychoanal a group of emotions, usually unconscious, involving the desire of a child, esp a male child, to possess sexually the parent of the opposite sex while excluding the parent of the same sex Compare Electra complex

Oedipus complex

1. In Freudian theory, the unconscious desire of a young child for sexual intercourse with the parent of the opposite sex, especially between boys and their mothers (see genital stage). Followers of the psychologist Sigmund Freud long believed that the Oedipus complex was common to all cultures, although many psychiatrists now refute this belief. The Oedipus complex is named after the mythical Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.

Other Word Forms

• oedipal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Oedipus complex¹

First recorded in 1890–95