emotion

[ ih-moh-shuhn ]

noun

1. an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.
2. any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc.
3. any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.
4. an instance of this.
5. something that causes such a reaction:

   the powerful emotion of a great symphony.

emotion

/ ɪˈməʊʃən /

noun

1. any strong feeling, as of joy, sorrow, or fear

emotion

/ ĭ-mō′shən /

1. A psychological state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is sometimes accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.

Derived Forms

• eˈmotionless, adjective

Other Words From

• e·motion·a·ble adjective
• e·motion·less adjective
• pree·motion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotion¹

First recorded in 1570–80; apparently from Middle French esmotion, from esmovoir “to set in motion, move the feelings,” from Vulgar Latin exmovēre (unrecorded; literary Latin ēmovēre ); e- ¹( def ), move ( def ), motion ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotion¹

C16: from French, from Old French esmovoir to excite, from Latin ēmovēre to disturb, from movēre to move

Example Sentences

Humans have long used slow breathing to regulate their emotions, and practices like yoga and mindfulness have even popularized formal techniques like box breathing.

From Science Daily

“It encourages emotion to drive our decision-making behavior, as opposed to logic,” Wright said.

From Los Angeles Times

The contestants of ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’ talk about how showing their emotions was a big part of the Hallmark reality competition series seeking a new leading man.

From Los Angeles Times

“It was the first time we were able to touch that emotion. We’d been too busy telling the story to feel it.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I think because I’m always dealing with ambiguous emotions, I’ve always been afraid of music tipping the balance in one direction or being too histrionic or too sentimental.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• affection
• anger
• concern
• desire
• despair
• empathy
• excitement
• feeling
• fervor
• grief
• happiness
• joy
• love
• passion
• pride
• rage
• remorse
• sadness
• sentiment
• shame

More About Emotion

What does emotion mean?

An emotion is a spontaneous mental reaction, such as joy, sorrow, hate, and love. Emotions always involve mental activity and sometimes have physical effects on the body, as in She could tell what emotion he was feeling by looking at his face.

The word emotion is used generally to refer collectively to these intense feelings or an expression of them, as in The director really wanted to see some emotion from the lead actress.

What causes someone’s emotions and how someone feels or expresses their emotions differs from person to person. You and your friend might both feel sad to have failed an important test. Your reaction to your sad emotion might be to cry, while your friend’s reaction might be to shout.

The word emotional describes something that is related to emotions, causing an emotion to happen, or easily experiencing emotions.

Example: I have a hard time sharing my emotions with people and instead try to appear stoic.

Where does emotion come from?

The first records of emotion come from the 1570s. It ultimately comes from the Latin ēmovēre, meaning “to disturb.”

Emotions are part of the human consciousness. They often strongly affect a person’s behavior, and many people will go to extremes to not have to feel a negative emotion, such as fear, or to feel a positive one, such as happiness.

People are often told to control their emotions, especially children. But emotions are spontaneous responses. That is, they happen without conscious thought or planning. We can’t control them, and there is no right or wrong emotion. Emotions just are. Instead, we can control our reactions to our emotions. When we’re angry, for example, we can choose to say so rather than punch something.

Scientists theorize that humans aren’t the only animals capable of experiencing emotions. For example, if you approach a mouse, it will most likely run and hide from you out of fear. And research has shown that chimpanzees seem to behave in ways that suggest they feel emotions such as sadness, joy, and love.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to emotion?

• emotional (adjective)
• emotionless (adjective)
• emotionable (adjective)
• preemotion (noun)

What are some synonyms for emotion?

• feeling

What are some words that share a root or word element with emotion? 

• emotional
• emote
• emotive

What are some words that often get used in discussing emotion?

• strong
• unstable
• happiness
• sadness
• anger
• shame
• regret

How is emotion used in real life?

Emotion is a common word that means the intense feelings that we commonly experience.

Please remember that you’re allowed to be upset and angry. Please allow yourself to feel it. Suppressing your emotions isn’t healthy. Sending so much love ♡

— Emily Canham (@EmilyCanham) December 19, 2020

Shout out to everyone who is in constant emotional turmoil but deals with it by convincing others that they experience little to no emotion.

— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) July 3, 2019

The sin is almost never in the emotion of anger but in your response to that emotion. (Psalm 4:4)

— Ron Edmondson (@RonEdmondson) January 19, 2011

 

 

Try using emotion!

Which of the following is not an emotion?

A. anger
B. sadness
C. hunger
D. happiness

When To Use

What are other ways to say emotion?

The noun emotion is used to refer to any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or love, or to any strong agitation of feelings. How is emotion different from passion, feeling, and sentiment? Find out on Thesaurus.com.