oedipal
pronunciation
How to pronounce oedipal in British English:
UK ['i:dɪpl]
How to pronounce oedipal in American English:
US ['idɪpl]
Word Origin
- Oedipal (adj.)
- 1939, "of or pertaining to desire felt for opposite-sex parent," from Oedipus complex (1910), coined by Freud from Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," in which the title character, the Theban hero, answers the Sphinx's riddle and unknowingly kills his father and marries his own mother; from Greek Oedipus. The name was used figuratively in English from 1550s for "one who is clever at guessing riddles," which had adjectival form Oedipean (1620s).
Example
- 1. Oedipal complex taken too far ?
- 2. Don 't you think you may have had some oedipal issues as well ?
- 3. " Let us be the ultimate oedipal figures , " they declare .
- 4. A classical oedipal fantasy if you like , but if it were only this the story would be banal .
- 5. According to freud 's theory , soon after the children passthrough the oedipal stage with the help and understanding from parents , they turn to other children of opposite sex .