exorcise

Thân thiện

A priest exorcises a spirit from a troubled room.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To expel or drive out (an evil spirit or other unwanted presence) through adjuration, prayers, or rituals: The core meaning involves using sacred words, commands, or ceremonies to force a malevolent entity to leave a person or place.
   • To free (someone or something) from a malevolent influence or obsession: This extends the meaning to the act of liberation from a perceived negative force, not necessarily a literal spirit.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • The priest was called to exorcise the haunted house. (The priest was summoned to drive out the evil spirits from the haunted house using ritual.)
  • She felt the therapy session helped exorcise her childhood demons. (Here, 'demons' is metaphorical; the therapy helped free her from persistent negative memories or trauma.)
  • The ceremony aimed to exorcise the ghost from the village well. (The ritual's purpose was to expel the ghost.)

Advanced Usage

• "to exorcise a memory/ghost": to rid oneself of a troubling memory or a metaphorical 'ghost' from the past.
  • He wrote the novel to exorcise the ghosts of his wartime experiences. (He wrote to purge himself of the lingering psychological effects.)
• "to exorcise a place of evil": to purify a location from evil influences.
  • The ancient rite was performed to exorcise the forest of its dark energy.

Variants and Related Words

• Exorcism (n): The act or ceremony of exorcising.
  • They performed an exorcism on the afflicted patient.
• Exorcist (n): A person who performs exorcisms.
  • The movie is about a famous exorcist.

Synonyms

• Cast out: To force something to leave, often used in similar contexts.
• Drive out: To compel to depart.
• Purge: To rid of something unwanted, often used metaphorically.
• Expel: To force or drive out.

Antonyms

• Invite: To ask for or encourage the presence of.
• Conjure (up) / Summon: To call forth, especially a spirit.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• To exorcise one's demons: A common idiomatic expression meaning to confront and overcome one's deep-seated fears, guilt, or psychological problems.
  • Through meditation, he sought to exorcise his demons and find inner peace.

Học thuật

Verb

1. expel through adjuration or prayers
   • exorcise evil spirits

Từ đồng nghĩa

• exorcize