ca·thar·tic
kə-ˈthär-tik 
: of, relating to, or producing catharsis
cathartic drugs
a cathartic experience
: a medicine that causes the bowels to be purged (see purge entry 1 sense 2a) : purgative
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Word History of Catharsis and Cathartic
Catharsis and cathartic both trace to the Greek word kathairein, meaning “to cleanse, purge.” Catharsis entered English as a medical term having to do with purging the body—and especially the bowels—of unwanted material. The adjective cathartic entered English with a meaning descriptive of such a physically cleansing purge. It didn’t take long for people to start using these words figuratively in reference to emotional release and spiritual cleansing.
Examples of cathartic in a Sentence
Adjective
There's something cathartic about a punch in the nose.
—
Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated, 28 Jan. 2002
But Vietnam is hard to sell as a tidy, cathartic morality tale of troubled times overcome.
—Jennifer Homans, New Republic, 2 & 9 Dec. 2002
Many veterans, at first reluctant to speak, ultimately uncorked their emotions in a cathartic explosion.
—Stanley Karnow, New York Times Book Review, 22 Nov. 1992
It provokes no healthy tears, whereas Cervantes never fails … to open the cathartic floodgates.
—Anthony Burgess, Homage to Qwert Yuiop: Selected Journalism 1978-1985, 1986
Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated, 28 Jan. 2002
But Vietnam is hard to sell as a tidy, cathartic morality tale of troubled times overcome.
—Jennifer Homans, New Republic, 2 & 9 Dec. 2002
Many veterans, at first reluctant to speak, ultimately uncorked their emotions in a cathartic explosion.
—Stanley Karnow, New York Times Book Review, 22 Nov. 1992
It provokes no healthy tears, whereas Cervantes never fails … to open the cathartic floodgates.
—Anthony Burgess, Homage to Qwert Yuiop: Selected Journalism 1978-1985, 1986
Recent Examples on the Web
EW.com, 19 Oct. 2024
Yet as the summer progresses, raw wounds begin to scab over, as father and daughter begin to truly see each other once more — though the film, restrained to the last, holds off on any grandly cathartic embraces or gestures of reconciliation.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Oct. 2024
Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 11 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for cathartic 
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Adjective
Their powerful guitar solos and cathartic choruses continue to make waves to this day.
—EW.com, 19 Oct. 2024
Yet as the summer progresses, raw wounds begin to scab over, as father and daughter begin to truly see each other once more — though the film, restrained to the last, holds off on any grandly cathartic embraces or gestures of reconciliation.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Oct. 2024
Noun
Some people find free-writing in a journal cathartic.
—Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 11 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for cathartic
Dictionary Entries Near cathartic
Cite this Entry
“Cathartic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cathartic. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
cathartic
1 of 2 adjective
ca·thar·tic
kə-ˈthärt-ik
: of, relating to, or producing catharsis
cathartic
2 of 2 noun
: a cathartic medicine : purgative
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