free association

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noun Psychoanalysis.

the uncensored expression of the ideas, impressions, etc., passing through the mind of the analysand, a technique used to facilitate access to the unconscious.

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Origin of free association

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby free association

free and clear, free and easy, free as a bird, free ascent, free-associate, free association, free atmosphere, free ball, free balloon, freebase, free beach

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use free association in a sentence

The requirement, they said, chills the protected First Amendment speech of their donors and violates their right to free association.
Supreme Court strikes down Calif. law requiring charities to disclose top donors to attorney general|Robert Barnes|July 1, 2021|Washington Post
These issues are tied up in the incentives and structures of the traditional media environment, the simultaneous weakness and power of US political parties, and really hard issues of privacy and free association.
The attack on the Capitol is fueling a backlash against social media|Aaron Pressman|January 8, 2021|Fortune
Have you looked around the American Dental Association website for an explanation of how fluoridation actually works?
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
In other words, the free thinker defending freedom of thought.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Cambodia, with its seemingly free press, is also a haven for foreign journalists.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What need to look to right or left when you are swallowing up free mile after mile of dizzying road?
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
If we can free this State of Yankees, we will accomplish more than your armies down south have.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
"It is ill-fated;" and Alessandro blamed himself for having forgotten her only association with the name.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
The voice of the orator peculiarly should be free from studied effects, and responsive to motive.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick

British Dictionary definitions for free association

free association

noun

psychoanal a method of exploring a person's unconscious by eliciting words and thoughts that are associated with key words provided by a psychoanalyst

a spontaneous mental process whereby ideas, words, or images suggest other ideas, etc, in a nonlogical chain reaction

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

free association

Origin of free association

Words nearby free association

Words related to free association

How to use free association in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for free association