Word.ws English Dictionary

algedonic

/æld͡ʒɪˈdɒnɪk/

algedonic adjective: pertaining to both pleasure and pain.

Adjective

algedonic (comparative more algedonic, superlative most algedonic)

  1. Pertaining to both pleasure and pain.
    • I have restrained myself, however, from the temptation to invent terms except in one particular, viz. in the word “algedonic” […] which I use adjectively to describe any phase of pain-pleasure experience […].1894, Henry Rutgers Marshall, Pain, Pleasure, and Æsthetics, London: Macmillan, page vi
    • For him even the most painful social confrontations and contrasts, which would have stabbed the conscience of even the vulgarest nouveau riche, were stingless. Without significance except as vignettes, as interesting discords, as pleasurable because vivid examples of the algedonic polarity of...1965, John Fowles, The Magus, Boston: Little, Brown, Part 2, Chapter 29, p. 161
  2. Relating to algedonics.

algedonic meaning in Tamil and Kannada

algedonic in Tamil

அழகுணர்ச்சி பற்றிய கருத்து, வலிக்கும்

algedonic in Kannada

ನೋವುನಲಿವಿನ

Forms of algedonic

comparativemore algedonic
superlativemost algedonic

Origin of algedonic

From Ancient Greek ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”) + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ) ‘pleasure’. Coined by Henry Rutgers Marshall in 1894.

Questions about algedonic

What does algedonic mean?
Algedonic means pertaining to both pleasure and pain.
What is algedonic in Tamil?
Algedonic in Tamil is அழகுணர்ச்சி பற்றிய கருத்து, வலிக்கும். See Algedonic meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is algedonic?
Algedonic is an adjective.
How do you pronounce algedonic?
Algedonic is pronounced /æld͡ʒɪˈdɒnɪk/.

Words near algedonic in the dictionary

  1. algebro-
  2. algebrogeometric
  3. algebroid
  4. algebroids
  5. Algeciras
  6. algedonic
  7. algedonics
  8. algefacient
  9. algeldrate
  10. algenate
  11. Algenib

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: algedonic (page history and authors); algedonic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); algedonic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-algedonic.wav.

Cite this entry: “algedonic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/algedonic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.