alexithymia

American  

[ey-lek-suh-thahy-mee-uh] / ˌeɪ lɛk səˈθaɪ mi ə /

noun

Psychiatry.

1. difficulty in experiencing, expressing, and describing emotional responses.

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Etymology

Origin of alexithymia

a- ⁶ + Greek léxi ( s ) speech ( see alexia) + -thymia

Explanation

Alexithymia is a condition that makes it difficult to feel or express emotions. Someone with alexithymia might realize their heart is beating fast but be unable to connect that with a feeling of fear or excitement. Alexithymia was coined by psychotherapists in the 1970s from the Greek a-, or "not," lexis, "word," and thymos, "feeling." It gave a name to a person's inability to identify their own feelings, a condition that's associated with being on the autism spectrum. Sometimes called "emotional blindness," alexithymia can sometimes make it hard for people to form emotional attachments to others.

Example Sentences

Many autistic people also have alexithymia, a trait that makes it exceptionally difficult to identify and describe emotions, and have been stymied by questions intended to assess their internal state.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

People with higher levels of alexithymia showed less clearly defined facial expressions for anger and happiness, which made those emotions appear more ambiguous.

From Science Daily • Jan. 19, 2026

The 22-year-old, from Newmarket, Suffolk, also discovered she experiences alexithymia, meaning she cannot identify emotions.

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2023

His study, he added, is the first "to show that a difficulty recognizing moving, rather than still, angry expressions is associated with autism, and not alexithymia."

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2021

“Have you heard the term alexithymia before?” he asked.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia