as in excitable
bringing about a relief from strong emotions usually by expressing them
It was very cathartic to finally tell my childhood bully exactly what I thought of him.
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in drug
a substance used to induce or speed up the process of defecation
Epsom salts, when ingested, act as a cathartic.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cathartic
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2025
When the sun conjuncts Pluto in Aquarius, the energy is intensely cathartic and transformative.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 21 Jan. 2025
Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 11 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for cathartic 
Adjective
At their best, werewolf pictures can be cathartic, romantic, tragic — a vision of our desires colluding with unchecked animal impulses.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2025
When the sun conjuncts Pluto in Aquarius, the energy is intensely cathartic and transformative.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 21 Jan. 2025
Noun
Some people find free-writing in a journal cathartic.
—Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 11 Jan. 2021
See all Example Sentences for cathartic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cathartic
Adjective
-
Alain Delon plays his excitable, passionate nephew, and the luminous Claudia Cardinale the daughter of a local bureaucrat whose romance with Delon becomes the vessel by which the Prince’s family will maintain its power in the future.—
Kevin Lincoln,
Vulture,
20 Jan. 2025
-
As an actor, Branagh has a voice that’s high, excitable, and light, and his physicality possesses a tomcat sneakiness.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
11 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Sadly, her rise to fame coincided with drug and alcohol addiction.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
2 Feb. 2025
-
In an interview with TIME last year, and through follow-up questions in early January, Duato discussed the split of the business, dealing with the scrutiny brought about by the lawsuits, drug prices, and what’s ahead for Johnson & Johnson.—
Ayesha Javed,
TIME,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
An emotional gulf has developed during his absence and the encounter is uneasy, as each tries to understand the other.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
30 Jan. 2025
-
Drew is looking forward to reclaiming her life, rebuilding friendships and focusing on using her music as an outlet to cope with all the emotional turbulence.—
Dave Quinn,
People.com,
30 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Sales of purgatives, tonics, syrups and patent medicines like Carter’s Little Liver Pills went through the roof as ordinary people were encouraged to closely monitor the frequency and quality of their bowel movements.—
Elsa Richardson,
TIME,
3 Oct. 2024
-
Or merely the tall-tale purgative of a frantic Purgatorian?—
Tom Nolan,
WSJ,
11 June 2021
Adjective
-
Yet even more exciting than the revival of long-dormant properties is the potential the Switch 2 has to bring entirely new gaming experiences to the console.—
Matt Kamen,
WIRED,
31 Jan. 2025
-
Visiting Stadiums On Summer Tour Excited about The battle against tyranny sounds rather exciting!—
Liza Lentini,
SPIN,
31 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The coroner said the victim, who has not yet been identified, possibly took sleeping medication and passed out.—
David Chiu,
People.com,
23 Jan. 2025
-
An initial report indicated that their mother, 34, had stopped taking her mental health medication, had left her apartment, and that the children had stopped going to school, per the U.S. Marshals Service's statement.—
Raul A. Reyes,
Newsweek,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Alongside his impressive statistics, Darnold's season was capped off when he was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News and NFL on Fox.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
1 Feb. 2025
-
The system maintains an impressive prediction error margin of only 3%, even with over 28,000 data points.—
Grace Butler,
USA TODAY,
1 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Typically, organized rings coordinate and plan thefts on a large scale, identifying high-demand merchandise with high resale value — think over-the-counter medicine, baby formula and laundry detergent, designer sunglasses, power tools and even spools of copper wire.—
Cailey Locklair,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Jan. 2025
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Commoners could look forward to a paltry thirty-five or forty years of a hardscrabble existence, without the benefit of medicine, dentistry, or a decent sewage system.—
Arthur Krystal,
The New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near cathartic
Cite this Entry
“Cathartic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cathartic. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
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