cathexis means the concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea. It carries an Arena rating of 1535, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, cathexis ranks #2,392 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,437 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,664 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,661 of 17,151 for The Improbable.
cathexis is pronounced /kəˈθɛk sɪs/.
Why “cathexis” is a great word
The concentration of mental or emotional energy on a specific object, person, or idea. From the Ancient Greek κάθεξις (káthexis, “holding, retention”), the term was adopted into English in the early 20th century as a learned translation of the German psychoanalytic term Besetzung (“occupation, investment”) and first recorded in English use in 1922. Unlike “attachment” (which describes a settled bond) or “interest” (which implies a casual curiosity), cathexis is the dynamic, often unconscious, channeling of psychic force. It is the fevered intensity of a collector cataloguing stamps, the silent, daily ritual of polishing a lost loved one’s photograph, and the obsessive rehearsal of a grievance until it wears a neural groove smooth—the invisible economy by which we animate our world, measurable only by its sudden, vertiginous absence.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek κάθεξις (káthexis, “holding, retention”). The term entered the English language as a translation for the common everyday German word Besetzung, which in the context of psychoanalysis means "occupation" in the sense of a position or something being occupied or filled, and not a military occupation of a place or the filling of job positions (although it can also mean either of these in other contexts). (In English translations, a Greek word was used to be more scientific.)
noun
- The concentration of libido or emotional energy on a single object or idea.e.g.“How contemporary artistic performances elicit cathexis on the part of the audience and promote unifying social rituals.” — 2013, Isher-Paul Sahni, “More than Horseplay”, in Studies in Popular Culture, volume 35, page 76:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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