catharsis

American  

[kuh-thahr-sis] / kəˈθɑr sɪs /

noun

plural

catharses

1. the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, especially through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.

2. Medicine/Medical. purgation.

3. Psychiatry.

   1. psychotherapy that encourages or permits the discharge of pent-up, socially unacceptable affects.

   2. discharge of pent-up emotions so as to result in the alleviation of symptoms or the permanent relief of the condition.

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catharsis British  

/ kəˈθɑːsɪs /

noun

1. (in Aristotelian literary criticism) the purging or purification of the emotions through the evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy

2. psychoanal the bringing of repressed ideas or experiences into consciousness, thus relieving tensions See also abreaction

3. purgation, esp of the bowels

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catharsis Cultural  

1. An experience of emotional release and purification, often inspired by or through art. In psychoanalysis, catharsis is the release of tension and anxiety that results from bringing repressed feelings and memories into consciousness.

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Other Word Forms

• hypercatharsis noun

Etymology

Origin of catharsis

First recorded in 1795–1805; from New Latin, from Greek kátharsis “a cleansing,” equivalent to kathar- (variant stem of kathaírein “to cleanse,” derivative of katharós “pure”) + -sis -sis

Example Sentences

You might be tempted, with every faraway look in Christian Petzold’s subtly moving “Miroirs No. 3,” to hope for that soothing, enlightened release so often served as catharsis in tales of loss and healing.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Telling her story has also been a "catharsis", she said.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025

The good news is that this show will offer new catharsis in a second season that’s already been greenlighted.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2025

The best songs on the album are rich with such moments of catharsis, where an arrangement builds to an emotionally wrenching peak and Mr. Ellis’s voice carries it through.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025

The third church offered passion and catharsis; it was a place where you truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit inside you.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah