free-associate
Americanverb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of free-associate
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To that end, the company is researching why models confidently free-associate, and uses techniques during training to try to get them to more often admit the gaps in their knowledge.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
In one of the most touching scenes about art and understanding, Souad is asked to free-associate over simple, hypnotic footage she shot at home of water filling a pail.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2023
She’s got an uncanny ability to free-associate through her characters, who are clearly still learning to speak and write and use language, but are no less sophisticated in their depth of thought.
From New York Times • Jun. 11, 2020
When Midge enters show biz, her shtick, just like Rivers’s was, is to dress for a date, in a black dress and pearls, then free-associate truths about women’s lives.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 11, 2018
The writers free-associate, and contemporary concerns often get the upper hand.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
