Advertisement

Advertisement

Oedipus complex

[ ed-uh-puhs kom-pleks, ee-duh- ]

noun

, Psychoanalysis.
  1. an unconscious sexual desire directed toward a parent of a different gender, especially by a son toward his mother, usually originating in childhood and expressed through rivalry with the other parent. Compare Electra complex.


Oedipus complex

noun

  1. psychoanal a group of emotions, usually unconscious, involving the desire of a child, esp a male child, to possess sexually the parent of the opposite sex while excluding the parent of the same sex Compare Electra complex
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


Oedipus complex

  1. In Freudian theory, the unconscious desire of a young child for sexual intercourse with the parent of the opposite sex, especially between boys and their mothers ( see genital stage ). Followers of the psychologist Sigmund Freud long believed that the Oedipus complex was common to all cultures , although many psychiatrists now refute this belief. The Oedipus complex is named after the mythical Oedipus , who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.


Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈoedipal, adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of Oedipus complex1

First recorded in 1890–95
Discover More

Example Sentences

In this sense the Oedipus-complex is correctly designated as the nucleus of the neurosis.

But even this factor cannot seriously undermine the spontaneous character of the childish Oedipus-complex.

But it would be a vain endeavor to explain the whole of the Oedipus-complex by "imagining back," and as related to later times.

You will remember that we were led to a similar alternative in the discussion of the Oedipus-complex.

Oedipus Complex: Over-strong bond between mother and son, or (more loosely) between father and daughter.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Oedipus at ColonusOedipus Rex