cathectic

9.9

Giving strong emotional energy to a person, thing, or idea

adjective
/kəˈθɛktɪk/

Specialized

: catéctico

Her cathectic attachment to the old family photo brought back many cherished memories.

Examples

He felt a cathectic bond with the puppy he rescued from the shelter.
The artist's cathectic relationship with her work fueled her creativity and passion.
Thus, loss of a home refers to loss of all highly cathectic.

Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

emotional

vscathectic

598 2.1

Showing strong feelings that are easy to see

relates to investing mental energy in person object or idea rather than showing feeling

Antonyms

disengaged

8 4.7

Not involved or interested in something and not paying attention

How Invested

committed

412 4.0

cathectic

Specialized

9.9

interested

∞ 1.0

uninvolved

1 4.4

Surface Forms

cathectic positive

Morphology

cathectic = cathexis (semi-transparent) = cathexis + ic

Formed regularly from 'cathexis' + '-ic', but the base 'cathexis' is a specialized psychoanalytic term unlikely to be known by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Cathectic comes from Greek parts kata- and echein, where echein means 'to hold'. So, to be cathectic is like 'holding' or investing emotional energy in a person, object, or idea.