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penis envy

American  

noun

Psychoanalysis.

  1. the repressed wish of a female to possess a penis.

penis envy British  

noun

  1. psychoanal a Freudian concept in which envy of the penis is postulated as the cause for some of the characteristics found in women

"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
penis envy Cultural  

  1. In Freudian theory, the repressed desire of females to possess a penis.

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Penis envy is also used generally to mean a supposed female envy of men.

Etymology

Origin of penis envy

First recorded in 1920–25

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.