# catharsis

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəˈθɑːsɪs/ · frequency rank #43,076

## Definitions
1. A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions, as through watching a dramatic production (especially a tragedy).
2. Any release of emotional tension to the same effect, more widely.
3. A purification or cleansing, especially emotional.
4. A therapeutic technique to relieve tension by reestablishing the association of an emotion with the memory or idea of the event that first caused it, and then eliminating it by complete expression (called the abreaction).
5. Purging of the digestive system.

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek κάθαρσις (kátharsis, “cleansing, purging”), from καθαίρω (kathaírō, “I cleanse”). Coined in the dramatic-emotional sense by Aristotle.

## Easily confused with
- **cathartic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/catharsis-vs-cathartic)

## Common misspellings (14)
`actharsis`, `cahtarsis`, `catahrsis`, `cathariss`, `catharrsis`, `catharsiss`, `catharssi`, `catharssis`, `cathasris`, `cathharsis`, `cathrasis`, `cattharsis`, `ccatharsis`, `ctaharsis`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/catharsis