Dictionary Definition
sadism n : sexual pleasure obtained by inflicting
harm (physical or psychological) on others
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
Named after the Marquis de
Sade, famed for his libertine writings depicting the pleasure
of inflicting pain to others. The word for "sadism" (sadisme) is
forged or acknowledged in the 1834 posthumous reprint of French
lexicographer Boiste's
Dictionnaire universel de la langue française; it is reused along
with "sadist" (sadique) in 1862 by French critic
Sainte-Beuve in his commentary of Flaubert's novel Salammbô; it
is reused (possibly independently) in 1886 by Austrian psychiatrist
Krafft-Ebing in Psychopathia Sexualis which popularized it; it
is directly reused in 1905 by Freud in
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality which definitely
established the word.
Noun
sadism (uncountable)- (mainly psychiatric) the enjoyment of inflicting pain
- achievement of sexual gratification by inflicting pain on others
- gaining sexual excitement and satisfaction by watching pain inflicted by others on their victims
- a morbid form of enjoyment achieved by acting cruel to another, or others.
- (In general use) deliberate cruelty either mental or physical also applicable to the cruelty inflicted upon animals whether for sexual gratification or not.
Related terms
Translations
enjoyment of inflicting pain
- Croatian: sadizam
- Greek: σαδισμός (sadismós)
- Hungarian: szadizmus
sexual gratification
- Croatian: sadizam
- Greek: σαδισμός (sadismós)
watching pain inflicted
- Croatian: sadizam
enjoyment by acting cruel to others
- Croatian: sadizam
- Greek: σαδισμός (sadismós)
- Hungarian: szadizmus
deliberate cruelty
- Croatian: sadizam
- Hungarian: szadizmus
Extensive Definition
wikt sadism Sadism is the derivation
of pleasure as a result of the suffering of others. Aspects of it
include:
- Sadism and masochism in sexual contexts
- Sadism and masochism as medical terms
- Sadistic personality disorder
- Marquis de Sade, an eighteenth-century French writer
sadism in Arabic: سادية
sadism in Georgian: სადიზმი
sadism in Slovak: Sadizmus
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
active algolagnia, algolagnia, algolagny, amphierotism, animality, atrociousness, autoeroticism, barbarity, barbarousness, beastliness, bestiality, bisexuality, bloodiness, bloodlust, bloodthirst, bloodthirstiness,
bloody-mindedness, brutality, brutalness, brutishness, cannibalism, coprophilia, cruelness, cruelty, exhibitionism, ferociousness, ferocity, fetishism, fiendishness, fierceness, heterosexuality,
homoeroticism,
homosexualism,
homosexuality,
incest, incestuousness, inhumaneness, inhumanity, lesbianism, masochism, narcissism, necrophilia, paraphilia, passive
algolagnia, pedophilia, ruthlessness, sadistic
cruelty, sadomasochism, sanguineousness,
sapphism, savagery, scotophilia, sexual
inversion, sexual normality, sexual preference, swinging both ways,
transvestitism,
tribadism, tribady, truculence, vandalism, viciousness, violence, voyeurism, wanton cruelty,
zooerastia, zoophilia