cathartic

/kəˈθɑɹtɪk/

cathartic adjective: purgative; inducing mental or physical catharsis.

Adjective

cathartic (comparative more cathartic, superlative most cathartic)

Purgative; inducing mental or physical catharsis.
- Shaving, my favorite activity, is very cathartic.
That which releases emotional tension, especially after an overwhelming experience.
- "So, there are real opportunities to create real change with enforcement." Prosser describes how some of that change is also cathartic to those who have been directly affected by incidents on the railway, such as the families who have lost loved ones.2023 November 1, Ian Prosser talks to Stefanie Foster, “Safety Mission: Possible”, in RAIL, number 995, page 37
- For some, Saturday’s protests were cathartic, a show of force and solidarity by progressives who had struggled to pick themselves up from last November’s election defeat.2025 April 7, Simon Montlake, Caitlin Babcock, Ali Martin, Cameron Pugh, Jingnan Peng, “Is the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ starting to find its voice again?”, in The Christian Science Monitor

cathartic (plural cathartics)

A laxative.
- The disease was regarded as pneumonia so far advanced that suppuration seemed to have supervened; bleeding, blisters, expectorants, and cathartics diminished the symptoms; the pulse continued frequent, hard, full, but always regular.1833, R. J. Bertin, translated by Charles W. Chauncy, Treatise on the Diseases of the Heart, and Great Vessels, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blnachard, page 165
- As Jan McTavish notes, when the physician diagnosed the headache's origins in the digestive system, particularly constipation, the antidote might entail cathartics (substances that accelerate defecation) or emetics (inducers of vomiting) and other regulators of the digestive process.2022, Seth Garfield, Guaraná […] , Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN

பேதி மருந்து

শক্তিশালী রেচক ঔষধ, আবেগমুক্তিকারক

The revelation of the culprits' identities was cathartic for the populace.
Emetic and cathartic medicines are eccritics.
Superman bashed Bavarians and kiboshed Krauts with a mix of solemn consecration, righteous anger and cathartic glee.

Learned borrowing from New Latin catharticus, from Ancient Greek καθαρτικός (kathartikós).

What does cathartic mean?: Cathartic means purgative; inducing mental or physical catharsis.
What is cathartic in Tamil?: Cathartic in Tamil is பேதி மருந்து. See Cathartic meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is cathartic?: Cathartic can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce cathartic?: Cathartic is pronounced /kəˈθɑɹtɪk/ (US).

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-cathartic.ogg.

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