Oedipus complex

American  

[ed-uh-puhs kom-pleks, ee-duh-] / ˈɛd ə pəs ˌkɒm plɛks, ˈi də- /

Also Oedipal complex

noun

Psychoanalysis.

1. an unconscious sexual desire directed toward a parent of a different gender, especially by a son toward his mother, usually originating in childhood and expressed through rivalry with the other parent.

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Oedipus complex British  

noun

1. psychoanal a group of emotions, usually unconscious, involving the desire of a child, esp a male child, to possess sexually the parent of the opposite sex while excluding the parent of the same sex Compare Electra complex

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Oedipus complex Cultural  

1. In Freudian theory, the unconscious desire of a young child for sexual intercourse with the parent of the opposite sex, especially between boys and their mothers (see genital stage). Followers of the psychologist Sigmund Freud long believed that the Oedipus complex was common to all cultures, although many psychiatrists now refute this belief. The Oedipus complex is named after the mythical Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• oedipal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Oedipus complex

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

But the Oedipus Complex leaped from desuetude last week when the University of Wisconsin's Dr. Ross Stagner reported a survey which seemed factually to confirm its validity.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dr. Alfred Adler, discovered the Inferiority Complex, whose wide acceptance has nearly shouldered aside the Freudian interpretations, among them the Oedipus Complex.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Oedipus Complex, thought Dr. Stagner, was clearly entitled to a thoroughgoing reappraisal.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Freudians have said that the play of Hamlet is the result of Shakespeare's Oedipus Complex.

From A Dominie in Doubt by Neill, Alexander Sutherland