defense mechanism

Questions about defense mechanism

What does defense mechanism mean?

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

What is another word for defense mechanism?

Close synonyms include defense reaction, defence mechanism, 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 defense mechanism a common word?

defense 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.