aversion therapy
3
7.7
- noun
- /əˈvɜrʒən ˈθɛrəpi/
- Specialized
:
terapia de aversión
- Lana imagines herself winning the Pulitzer Prize, and is willing to subject herself to aversion therapy.
Examples
-
See, it's aversion therapy.
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And next to it, our pride and joy, a technologically advanced aversion therapy facility complete with the latest electroshock hardware.
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No amount of aversion therapy could shake it out.
Fiction book (1994) -
I just think of it as homeopathic aversion therapy.
-
- Electroshock aversion therapy for instance.
-
It was excellent aversion therapy.
Blog text (30) -
Is this aversion therapy?
Fiction book (1991) -
He was an inmate at Arkham Asylum... ...and a former test subject in Dr. Crane's fear-aversion therapy program.
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The clinic offers aversion therapy to help patients overcome their addictions by using unpleasant stimuli.
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After years of struggling with smoking, she decided to try aversion therapy to finally quit for good.
Synonyms
A way of learning that reduces a behavior by pairing it with something unpleasant
How Aversive
- Specialized
3
7.7
- Specialized
6
4.5
- Specialized
24
5.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound directly combines 'aversion' (an intense dislike) with 'therapy' (a treatment) to denote a treatment that induces or uses aversion to reduce unwanted behaviors. This compositional relationship follows standard modifier + noun patterns and a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Aversion therapy combines aversion ('a strong dislike') and therapy ('treatment') and describes a treatment that makes someone link a bad feeling to an unwanted habit. For example, a mild shock or a bitter taste given when a person reaches for alcohol teaches them to 'avoid' the habit, which is why the phrase means a treatment that creates 'aversion' to that behavior.