emotion
[ih-moh-shuh n]
- an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.
- any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc.
- any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.
- an instance of this.
- something that causes such a reaction: the powerful emotion of a great symphony.
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Origin of emotion
Synonym study
1. See feeling.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
loveshameangersympathyhappinessconcernsentimentpassionfervorremorsepridewarmthjoysorrowgriefdesireempathyrageexcitementsadnessExamples from the Web for emotions
Contemporary Examples
No dishing, and his emotions in the book are no different than the ones he expressed, apparently, in a press release.
Visibly affected the by military atmosphere the young man admitted his emotions were volatile.
Emotions once suppressed, emotions once channeled, now are let loose.
‘Why Have I Lost Control?’: Cory Booker in ’92 on Rodney King Echoes FergusonCory Booker
November 26, 2014
The novel is a near perfect portrayal of the emotions of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood.
As another elder in the valley put it—perhaps more succinctly—“emotions are for women.”
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban ValleyMatt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
Historical Examples
She had suffered so much, so poignantly, that at last her emotions had grown sluggish.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
The girl in the chair was shaking soundlessly under the stress of her emotions.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
There had been in her gaze a conflict of emotions, strong and baffling.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
In a few minutes Katy had reduced her emotions to a dry sniffle.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
Perhaps his emotions were far deeper than he could express in words.
DustMr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
emotion
- any strong feeling, as of joy, sorrow, or fear
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Word Origin
C16: from French, from Old French esmovoir to excite, from Latin ēmovēre to disturb, from movēre to move
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for emotions
emotion
n.
1570s, "a (social) moving, stirring, agitation," from Middle French émotion (16c.), from Old French emouvoir "stir up" (12c.), from Latin emovere "move out, remove, agitate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + movere "to move" (see move (v.)). Sense of "strong feeling" is first recorded 1650s; extended to any feeling by 1808.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
emotion
(ĭ-mō′shən)- An intense mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
emotion
[ĭ-mō′shən]
- A psychological state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is sometimes accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.