death instinct
1
9.9
- noun
- /dɛθ ˈɪnstəŋkt/
- Specialized
:
instinto de muerte
- It's on this basis that Freud associated romantic love with the death instinct.
Examples
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Freud believed that the death instinct plays a significant role in human behavior, influencing many of our actions.
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For example, just as the romantic urge can become a dysfunction when it aligns with the death instinct and seeks not just a committed relationship with another but a complete fusion with them, so too can lusting after great wealth.
Academic text (2011) -
According to Freud, the struggle against the death instinct "is what all life essentially consists of, and the evolution of civilization may therefore be simply described as the struggle for life of the human species."
Academic text (1999) -
He was everything my father had sacrificed to repression, a walking embodiment of the death instinct.
Academic text (1999) -
His grotesque blindness foreshadows Freudian self-delusion and the death instinct.
Academic text (2003) -
The death instinct can manifest as a desire for isolation and withdrawal from life.
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In psychoanalysis, understanding the death instinct is crucial for exploring the roots of self-destructive tendencies.
Synonyms
29
8.6
A secret desire to die that a person does not show
A hidden urge to die or act in ways that harm oneself
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase 'death instinct' is a straightforward noun–noun composition: a tendency or instinct related to death, so a B1 learner who knows 'death' and 'instinct' can infer it denotes a drive toward death or self-destruction. While it is a technical Freudian term with specialized nuance, the basic compositional meaning is transparent and mirrored in many languages, making the general sense accessible.
Etymology
Death instinct is a term Sigmund Freud used for an inner push toward 'death'. He imagined an instinct that draws life back to a calm, death-like, non-living state, so the phrase means an unconscious urge toward 'self-destruction' or 'death'.