Aversive
adj, noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A grammatical case indicating that something is avoided or feared; the evitative case.
- 2 An unpleasant stimulus intended to induce a change in behaviour.
"For general training purposes, opportunities to engage in reproductive acts are not a practical reinforcer, and using aversives that generate fear is fraught with side effects."
- 1 Tending to repel; causing avoidance.
"If it is aversive to the animal and discourages behavior, it is a punishment. If it seems aversive to you but is not aversive to the animal, then it is not an effective punishment. In fact, technically, it's not even a punishment."
- 1 tending to repel or dissuade wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"If it is aversive to the animal and discourages behavior, it is a punishment. If it seems aversive to you but is not aversive to the animal, then it is not an effective punishment. In fact, technically, it's not even a punishment."
Related phrases
More for "aversive"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.