free association
Americannoun
noun
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psychoanal a method of exploring a person's unconscious by eliciting words and thoughts that are associated with key words provided by a psychoanalyst
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a spontaneous mental process whereby ideas, words, or images suggest other ideas, etc, in a nonlogical chain reaction
Etymology
Origin of free association
First recorded in 1895–1900
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.
Palau receives significant US funding under a compact of free association and its citizens have the right to work and study there visa-free.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
The compacts of free association with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau were negotiated to resolve a specific historical reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
Would the compact of free association model work with Greenland?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
UN rights chief Volker Turk "renews his call on security forces to desist from unnecessary force and to uphold the rights to free association and peaceful assembly," it said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025
His theory was that the problems of many troubled patients rested in forgotten psychic traumas, and through free association and the interpretation of dreams the key to the problems could be unlocked.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
