cathexis
Americannoun
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the investment of emotional significance in an activity, object, or idea.
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the charge of psychic energy so invested.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cathexis
First recorded in 1920–25; from New Latin, from Greek káthexis “a keeping,” equivalent to kathek- (variant stem of katéchein “to keep, hold on to,” equivalent to kat- cat- ( def. ) + échein “to have, hold”) + -sis -sis, as translation of German Besetzung a taking possession of (Freud's term)
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.
Because you have so much invested, it’s not just pleasurable, it’s also much more of a cathexis onto him and his persona and all that he represents.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2021
It’s more like a cathexis, an acutely intense energy focused on a singular entity.
From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2019
I liked parts of these movies and had moments of cathexis, but nothing really stuck.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 27, 2016
Authors are objects of cathexis, some of it idolizing, some of it envious, a fair amount both.
From The New Yorker ● May 4, 2015
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.
