psychobabble

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To those concerned about language in contemporary society, jargon has understandably become a repulsive term signifying a cloudy, pretentious insider's language subdivided into ugly types such as psychobabble, educationese, sociologese, and bureaucratese.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. noun Language characterized by the often inaccurate use of jargon from psychiatry and psychotherapy: "Discussions ... sometimes ... consist of consciousness-raising psychobabble, with the students' feelings and experiences valued as much as anything the professor or texts have to offer” (Karen Lehrman).

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Examples

  • To those concerned about language in contemporary society, jargon has understandably become a repulsive term signifying a cloudy, pretentious insider's language subdivided into ugly types such as psychobabble, educationese, sociologese, and bureaucratese. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol VIII No 4
  • You know, this convention, if the Democrats are smart, should be about Barack Obama, not the hurt feelings -- not the psychobabble, the catharsis of the Clintons. —  CNN Transcript Aug 22, 2008
  • Mr. Bush has said he's not big on self - analysis or psychobabble, as he calls it, but we reporters have found you can learn a lot just by watching the president in action. —  CNN Transcript Mar 21, 2006
  • "The United Nations troops are in Bosnia and Macedonia as peacekeepers, but some of the opposing militant factions of those countries would prefer to be at each other's throat to get revenge for atrocities committed by one side or the other over the centuries. —  Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
  • Who cares, psychobabble, right? —  CNN Transcript Aug 2, 2008
 

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Words tagged psychobabble

thanatophobia · cognitive dissonance · gruen transfer · erototoxin · retrospective falsification · neurodivergent

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Etymologies (1)

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  1. Coined by Richard Dean Rosen (born 1949), American writer.
 

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