sublimation

UK: /ˌsʌblɪˈmeɪʃ^ən/ US: /ˌsʌbləˈmeɪʃən/

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sublimation / ˌsʌblɪˈmeɪʃən/ noun

1. (in Freudian psychology) the diversion of psychic energy derived from sexual impulses into nonsexual activity, esp of a creative nature
2. the process or an instance of sublimating
3. something sublimated
4. the process or instance or subliming

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

sub•li•mate /ˈsʌbləˌmeɪt/   v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing. 

1. Psychiatry to redirect the energy of (a biological drive) from its immediate object to a more acceptable or productive nature or goal:
   Once he settled down, he sublimated his desires for women into a daily regimen of exercise.

sub•li•ma•tion /ˌsʌbləˈmeɪʃən/  n. [uncountable] See -lim-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sub•li•mate  (v. sub′lə māt′;n., adj. sub′lə mit, -māt′), v., -mat•ed, -mat•ing, n., adj. 
v.t. 

1. Psychiatry to divert the energy of (a sexual or other biological impulse) from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable social, moral, or aesthetic nature or use.
2. Chemistry
   • to sublime (a solid substance);
     extract by this process.
   • to refine or purify (a substance).
3. to make nobler or purer:
   To read about great men sublimates ambition.

v.i. 

4. to become sublimated;
   undergo sublimation.

n. 

5. Chemistry the crystals, deposit, or material obtained when a substance is sublimated.

adj. 

6. purified or exalted;
   sublimated.

• Latin sublīmātus (past participle of sublīmāre to elevate), equivalent. to sublīm(is) sublime + -ātus -ate¹
• late Middle English: exalted, sublimated 1425–75

sub•li•ma•ble  (sub′lə mə bəl), adj.  sub′li•ma•ble•ness, n. 
sub′li•ma′tion, n. 
sub′li•ma′tion•al, adj.