Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Causing avoidance of a thing, situation, or behavior by using an unpleasant or punishing stimulus, as in techniques of behavior modification.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Averse; turning away.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective of or pertaining to aversion.
  • adjective exhibiting avoidance or causing avoidance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Tending to repel, causing avoidance (of a situation, a behaviour, an item, etc),
  • adjective Avoidance that can be taught through the use of stimulus that either punish or reinforces.
  • noun grammar, uncountable A grammatical case indicating that something is avoided or feared; the evitative case.
  • noun psychology, countable An unpleasant stimulus intended to induce a change in behaviour.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective tending to repel or dissuade

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The researchers bred mice without the gene and put them in aversive situations, such as giving them a mild shock at a certain point in their cage.

    Juicing the Brain in Scientific American - Boing Boing 2006

  • The researchers bred mice without the gene and put them in aversive situations, such as giving them a mild shock at a certain point in their cage.

    Boing Boing: November 26, 2006 - December 2, 2006 Archives 2006

  • - The U.S. Justice Department has begun a review of whether the use of electric shock therapy by a Massachusetts special needs school violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Canton-based Judge Rotenberg Educational Center uses the treatment, known as aversive therapy, as a way to control aggressive behavior and prevent severely autistic students from injuring themselves or others.

    statesman.com - Highschool 2010

  • But unconscious discrimination - what psychologists call aversive racism - has stayed fairly constant.

    WHAT REALLY HAPPENED 2008

  • They teach "aversive" training methods, such as pinning the dog to the ground, jerking the dog on the leash, using shock collars, and physically forcing frightened dogs into situations they are afraid of until they shut down.

    Tom Matlack: Are You An "Alpha" Male? 2009

  • But it was more than that, some kind of aversive, body-unfriendly habit, but also a desire for comfort that I thought was most achievable in looseness.

    Fashion Post 3: Tight Becca 2006

  • But it was more than that, some kind of aversive, body-unfriendly habit, but also a desire for comfort that I thought was most achievable in looseness.

    Archive 2006-07-01 Becca 2006

  • They teach "aversive" training methods, such as pinning the dog to the ground, jerking the dog on the leash, using shock collars, and physically forcing frightened dogs into situations they are afraid of until they shut down.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com 2009

  • Create aversive sensations when certain thoughts come up, such as a desire to vote for an opposing candidate.

    World Wide Mind Michael chorost 2011

  • Create aversive sensations when certain thoughts come up, such as a desire to vote for an opposing candidate.

    World Wide Mind Michael chorost 2011

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