- the blocking or holding back of one psychological process by another.
- inappropriate conscious or unconscious restraint or suppression of behavior, as sexual behavior, often due to guilt or fear produced by past punishment, or sometimes considered a dispositional trait.
- a restraining, arresting, or checking of the action of an organ or cell.
- the reduction of a reflex or other activity as the result of an antagonistic stimulation.
- a state created at synapses making them less excitable by other sources of stimulation.
Origin of inhibition
Related formsin·ter·in·hi·bi·tion, noun
Examples from the Web for inhibition
Her ADHD subjects were particularly masterful when the talent in question involved a lack of inhibition.
For some, the drug can produce a haze of inhibition, making sex crazier, hotter, and more erotic.
As for the Ambien sex haze, Sara says she missed that window of inhibition.
As a result of this inhibition, all his outdoor playing lacked that complete abandon which is the soul of it.The Soul of a Child|Edwin Bjorkman
It produces death by inhibition of the hearts action, and by paralyzing the pneumogastric nerve.Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why|Martha M. Allen
Properly speaking a motive that does not issue in action—or inhibition—is not a motive at all, it is a mere desire.Determinism or Free-Will?|Chapman Cohen
If in the complete observation, however, any such advantage appears, we may treat it as a case of inhibition.
The second, and still more important, valuable feature of the games, lies in the constant exercise of inhibition.Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium|Jessie H. Bancroft
British Dictionary definitions for inhibition
- a mental state or condition in which the varieties of expression and behaviour of an individual become restricted
- the weakening of a learned response usually as a result of extinction or because of the presence of a distracting stimulus
- (in psychoanalytical theory) the unconscious restraining of an impulseSee also repression
Medicine definitions for inhibition
Science definitions for inhibition
Culture definitions for inhibition
A personal hindrance to activity or expression. For example, fear of contracting cancer might serve as an inhibition against smoking.