defence mechanism

Questions about defence mechanism

What does defence mechanism mean?

defence mechanism means "(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires".

What is another word for defence mechanism?

Close synonyms include defense mechanism, defense reaction, defence reaction, defense, defence. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is defence mechanism a common word?

defence mechanism is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.